Demon Hunter
by Stalokills
Summary: Ever since Weirdmaggedon, Dipper's life has been pretty much normal. He thinks there will be nothing harder than defeating Bill. But Bill was a small time demon. A much larger and eviler presence is now trapped in his mind, named Fire. And he will use her to save all of existence. As he fights the forces of evil will he lose his humanity, or help this unwanted mind demon gain hers?
1. Chapter 1

It's been about four years since the Pines defeated Bill. They still have nightmares about that day, but with time they got over the past. They still talk to Grunkle Stan every now and then, but they lost almost all their ties with Gravity Falls, that small town in Oregon. They wish they could go and visit, but the don't have any time, nor the money, to go.

Their parents still don't know about what happened that summer. It was best if they didn't, or else a lot of people would be angry. In fact, their parent had believed that it was just a boring old summer. The times Dipper and Mabel sometimes woke up screaming in the middle of the night wasn't at all related to Gravity Falls. At least, according to Dipper and Mabel.

Now living in Piedmont with their parents, Dipper and Mabel had been living pretty normal lives. Well, as normal as it could be with them. Mabel was still as strange as she was two years ago, and Dipper was just as nerdy. Even if they grew an extra foot or two.

But despite that, they had changed. Dipper was now just a bit more muscular, and Mabel was starting to fit out her figure. Instead of his vest and cargo pants, Dipper started wearing a dark blue hoodie and jeans. He had a new hairstyle, where his hair flipped to side, now spiked, and small bangs covered his birthmark. He had died his hair a lighter color. Something with his eyes had made the doctors give him glasses. He chose the _least_ nerdiest ones. Best to keep an image. Mabel stopped wearing her sweaters everyday. Now, she was wearing regular shirts, and a leather jacket that looked like it was shrunken. She seemed to prefer red and orange mostly, and the odd combination worked.

Dipper has been working on a project ever since he got back from Gravity Falls, something that's _bound_ to help him in his studies. Just becuase he didn't stay with Ford to take the apprenticeship, doesn't mean he stopped looking for mysteries. He wanted to see something else other than demons and monsters.

He wanted to see ghosts.

Special goggles to detect spirits. He had seen demons and zombies, and all kinds of new and unbelievable monsters, so were ghosts really that far-fetched. He started the project about a month after he got back, starting the work in his parents basement. However, it wasn't going very well. Each time he thought he was getting closer, something pooped up that caused him to start all over. He was so close, there was just something that he couldn't crack. He thought about Mabel's new obsession with modern fashion. It must have been so much easier for her than this was for him. He sighed.

Dipper attempted to connect two wires to each other. He took slow and even breaths, telling himself to be extra careful. Slowly, he brought the two wires closer together. He told himself that if he messed up now, he would jeopardize a month of research and building. He was extrr careful, but as he did there was a spark that burned his hands. He flinched, and the wires ripped, making them useless. He threw the tools on the top of the desk. He covered his face in his hands, groaning in exasperation. He let his hands fall to his sides, looking up at the ceiling. He stared up in defeat, ready to give up. This was too hard. It was impossible. Unimaginable.

Oh, well. Time to go back to work.

* * *

About fifteen minutes later, Dipper decided to take a break. He went up to his room, looking in Mabel's as he past. There were strands of fabric and string, along with crumpled up paper on the floor. There was an amputated mannequin, who Mabel was trying and failing to dress. It seemed that all of the colors of the rainbow and more were stripped all over it. Dipper looked at Mabel with pity. He felt bad for her troubles.

"Hey, Mabel. You all right?" He asked, trying to start a conversation. Mabel gave a grunt.

"This is impossible!" She yelled to the roof. Dipper walked to her and put his hand on her shoulder to help her.

"It looks...better than before! That's something!" He said, trying to cheer her up. She sighed.

"If I don't get this finished, I'll never succeed at life, I'll never go to college, I'll never get married or have kids-!" Mabel said in a fast pace, starting to freak out.

"Whoa, calm down, Mabel. I think you're overreacting just a little bit."

"Easy for you to say! My whole life is depending on this one outfit." Mabel had applied for a fashion school, part-time until she was old enough to graduate. If she passed this school, she would have a sure pass into fashion college...or whatever it was called.

"Mabel, it's all right. Just take a deep breath, and calm down." She followed his instructions. "Now, I'm sure that you can do this. Just...take your time. You'll get this eventually." He told her. She smiled at him, and was about to say something, but was interrupted by the buzzing of his phone in his pocket. He took it out and answered.

"Hello." He said.

" _Hey, D, you free today?_ " Michelle, one of his friends from school. She had been out of town up until yesterday, and they hadn't seen each other for about a week.

"Yeah, I don't have any plans, so-"

" _Cool, my cousin's in town, and I have nothing to do. Come meet me by the Bridge._ " She said. Dipper was confused.

"Wait, who's your-"He started to ask, but a clicking told him that she had hung up. He looked a the phone in confusion and sighed.

"Was that Michelle?" Mabel asked.

"Yeah, she wants me to go to the Bridge." The Bridge was a spot Mabel had found, hanging high over the river. She had actually taken one of her boyfriends there, and...well, he didn't want to go into details.

"When she'd get back in town?" Mabel asked.

"Yesterday." He said. He put the phone back into his pocket and sighed. "Okay, I'll be back, hopefully soon, just...try to do it, but stay calm, all right? And don't destroy an entire weeks worth of snacks like last time."

"No promises!" Mabel said, getting back to work on her designs. Dipper sighed and walked out of his house and down the street. He wondered which of Michelle's cousins were in town. Well, maybe he'd ask her when he got there. Still, the question poked endlessly at his brain, and Marco found a need to find out. He did always love a good mystery. Marco got to the crossroads near his street, and made his way into the forest. As he walked, he thought about all that was different now. How he and Mabel had changed.

"Boo!" Someone yelled suddenly behind him. He gasped and turned around, fear rising. Michelle was standing there, laughing hysterically.

"Really!?" He asked angrily, trying to calm down his heart. She nodded, unable to say any words because she was laughing so hard. Dipper calmed down and looked at her. She had changed her style since the last time he saw her. She now had purple streaks in her raven black hair, and was sporting studded leather jacket and pants. She had one piercing on her ear of a mace, and still wore at least five rings, each one its own representation of pain.

"So, you're goth now?" He asked her.

"I've always been goth." She said defensively, crossing her arms.

"That's what you said during your hip-hop phase. And your French phase. And your ghetto phase. And-"

"I get the point!" She said angrily. Dipper smiled.

"Good to see you." He said, giving her a slight punch on the arm. Their way of saying hi.

"Yeah, you too, D." She said, ruffling his hair. "Glad you didn't get yourself killed while I was gone." He fixed his hair, mumbling angrily. She smiled. And so continued their ancient ritual of pissing each other off one small gesture at a time.

"So who's this cousin I've heard so much about?" He asked. Michelle's smile disappeared.

"Uh, you _had_ to bring her up." She groaned. Dipper raised an eyebrow.

"I'm guessing you don't like her that much?" He asked, unsure of her reaction.

"Can we please talk about something else. Like your undead glasses." She said.

"...We're not calling them that." Dipper said in a dead tone. Michelle raised her hands as in defeat.

"All right, all right. We're all friends here." She said. Dipper rolled his eyes.

"Come on, why did you call me here?" He asked her. She took on a mock hurt look,

"Do I need an explanation to call my best friend out to the middle of nowhere, without a reason at all?" She asked.

"Yes." Dipper said flatly. Michelle's face gave up to defeat.

"Fine, I was actually going to ask you a question." She said, suddenly sounding very nervous.

"Shoot." Dipper said, putting hands in his jacket pockets. Michelle waited for a second before saying something.

"I-I was just wondering what classes you got?" She said. Dipper raised an eyebrow. He noticed that stutter, but decided it wasn't worth mentioning.

"Really? We could've talked about this over the phone. What do you really want?" Dipper asked. Michelle froze, then sighed.

"I was actually going to see if you were willing to go to that beginning of the year dance with me." She said, rubbing the back of her head in embarrassment. The dance was being held at the beginning of the year, obviously. It was a freshman's on chance at a good first impression. And there would be tons of popular people there. Dipper was confused, then remembered what they did in last year. She took him to one of the dances at the end of the year, when he got less dorky, in order to get her crush to notice her. Dipper smiled.

"...Is that all?" He asked, almost laughing at her sudden shyness. He wouldn't have expected that with her new personality. "Sure."

"Wha-really?" She asked unbelievably.

"Yeah. If you were trying to make someone jealous, you could have just asked me to help on the phone. I would have figured out the whole thing already."

"Oh...yeah, that's definitely what I wanted. I mean, really? thanks." She said, giving him a smile. Dipper thought the smile was kind of strange. But he shook it off. He was here already. Might as well do something fun and not get bored to death

"So, since I am already here, what do you want to do?" He asked her. She looked at him confused, then a wicked smile crossed her face.

"Want to get into some trouble?" She asked menacingly. Dipper shrugged, acting nonchalant.

"Not usually... _but_ ," he said, putting emphasis on the word,"since it's a special occasion...let's go destroy something." He held out his arm in a mock offering. She rolled her eyes and took it...which he then proceeded to trip her into a nearby mud puddle. He laughed at his now filthy best friend. Even though she was now covered with mud, Michelle was smiled. Dipper was glad to be back with one of his best friends.

"Oh, that's it, Pines, now you're dead!" She yelled teasingly, charging at him and smiling. He jumped out of the way and ran in the opposite direction, with the girl hot on his tail. He laughed. Yeah, this was just like old times, him playing pranks and Michelle trying to run him down. As he ran, he thought about how much he changed since Gravity Falls. He remembered all the people he left behind, but he was also forced to remember the ones he gains...

...which Michelle reminded him by tackling him to the ground, dirtying his dark blue hoodie. He pushed her off and stood up, wiping off the dirt from his jacket.

"Well, I guess you won that round. Now-" He started, but was interrupted.

"Hey, Michelle! You in there?" A voice asked. Dipper looked to the source, then back at Michelle. She looked afraid, putting a finger to her lips in a pleading 'shh.' He raised an eyebrow, but decided to obey. "Come on, aunt Linda wants us home for dinner."

Dipper was filled with surprise, then slowly came to the realization. Aunt Linda, huh? This must be the cousin that Michelle hates. He looked at her. As soon as she saw his face, she knew what he was going to do. She dragged a thumb across her throat in a threatening gesture. Dipper shrugged.

"She's over here!" He yelled. As soon as the words left his mouth, she charged at him with a fist. He side-stepped out of the way.

"Michelle, why are you so dirty? What are you doing out...who is this?" A female voice asked. Michelle to turned towards her cousin with a frown.

"None of your business, Wendy." She said. Dipper's face was replaced with one of confusion. He could've sworn...nah, it couldn't be.

"It is my business when I find my fifteen year-old cousin out in the middle of the woods with some random guy." The cousin said. Dipper moved into view and saw she was about 19, with bright red hair. She was wearing regular jeans and a gray t-shirt, her hair cut short, above her shoulders.

"Hi, yeah, random guy here, uh, this is a lot more... _awkward_ than I expected, so I'll just be on my way-"

"Who the heck are you?" She asked, cutting Dipper off.

"This is my _friend,_ Dipper." Michelle said, making it obvious to the cousin. Dipper wondered why he kept referring to her as 'the cousin.'

"...wait, _Dipper_? As in, Pines?" She asked, a look of shock covering her features.

"Uh, you know me?" He asked. " _I'm pretty sure I erased that story from the news website._ " He whispered to himself, afraid that one of his past experiments had come back yet again to bite him in the ass.

"It's me, dude. Wendy." she said, smiling. Dipper looked at her, confused, then with shock.

" _Wendy_? Is that really you?" He asked. She nodded. "Huh. Up until now, I was referring to you as ' _the cousin_ ' in my mind. You look different." She did look different. Not only her new hair style, but she had less freckles. Well, actually, it seemed she had lost all her freckles.

"The one and only, man. This is were you've been hiding out, huh?"

"Uh, you two know each other?" Michelle asked, confused at the sudden turn of events.

"Yeah, we used to be tight, like, forever ago." Wendy said, smiling. "He was cool for a twelve-year old."

"Almost sixteen now." He said, pointing his finger up in the air in a 'matter-of-factly' manner.

"I noticed. We haven't heard from you in forever, dude. What about Mabel? Where is she?"

"Oh, she's back at the house. You should come over some time." He said.

"Uh, wait, you two used to be friends?" Michelle asked. They both nodded, and Michelle looked at Dipper. "My opinion for you somehow got lower."

"Oh, that reminds me, what exactly were you doing out here?"

"We come out here sometimes. You know, hanging out, thinking about life, other deep stuff like that." Dipper tried to mock being deep, but wasn't doing a very good job.

"So this _isn't_ underground mud wrestling." Wendy said, crossing her arms. "So only you and Michelle come out here all the time?"

"Sometimes." Michelle said. "Me, Mabel, D, and Josh made this place the unofficial squad hang out." She said.

"Oh, that reminds me, has Josh seen your new style choice?" Dipper asked.

"Shut up." She said curtly. "I still haven't forgiven you for ratting me out."

"Well, I believe that you weren't doing anything, but only on the account that Dipper would be stammering awkwardly if you were." Wendy said, arms crossed.

"Hey, I have changed in the last four years." He said defensively. Wendy raised an eyebrow.

"So you _were_ doing something out here?" She asked. Dipper turned red.

"N-no, we w-weren't doing anything." He said quickly. Wendy chuckled, and Michelle rolled her eyes, but smiled nonetheless.

"Thanks, Dipper, your pathetic-ness saved me an earful from the 'rents." She said. Dipper looked at her annoyed.

"Fight me. Fight me right now." He said in a monotone voice. Michelle chuckled. Dipper looked at Wendy. "You know, we could go over to my house and you could see Mabel."

"Actually, that's be cool. I miss her like crazy. She still wearing those sweaters?" Wendy asked, smiling wider.

"Wait, Mabel used to wear sweaters? What did Dipper wear?" Michelle asked.

"Uh, nope." Dipper said. "I have burned all existing copies of my past self. You shall never know." He said. The last thing he needed was more teasing from this girl. Michelle looked at him angrily.

"...Actually, I still have some pics from Gravity Falls. We go to see Mabel real quick, go home, and then I could show you." Wendy said. Michelle grinned mischievously.

"Wendy, you have sealed my doom." Dipper said.

"Deal." Michelle said, running forward. Wendy followed and Dipper sighed, preparing himself for the next onslaught of Michelle's teasing.

As he walked out the forest, he felt something staring at him, eyes boring themselves into his back. He looked behind him, but there was no one there. He looked around the forest to make sure there was absolutely no one there. When he was satisfied, he turned back around. But there was that feeling again. Only, closer this time. He shrugged it off, and followed his friends, old and new, to his house. But the entire way there, he couldn't shake the feeling he was being watched.


	2. Chapter 2

Dipper knocked on the front door of his house and stepped inside. Mabel was sitting at the table, falling asleep on random pieces of strewn paper. Dipper slightly shook Mabel awake.

"Hey, Mabel, wake up. We got company." He said. Mabel sat up straight and looked around, groggy. Who the heck is tired at noon? Well, maybe that was what the cut-throat business of fashion did to a person.

"Who's here?" She asked, rubbing her eyes with her hands. Mabel looked at Dipper for a moment, then drifted over to Michelle. "You guys know you're covered in mud, right?"

"Mabel?" Wendy said, unbelievably. Mabel past Dipper and Michelle at the stranger in confusion, but after a second smiled.

"Wendy!" She said excitedly. She jumped up and grabbed Wendy into a bear hug.

"Well, at least _she_ recognized me." Wendy said, looking at Dipper. He rolled his eyes.

"What are you doing here?" Mabel asked, pulling away from Wendy. Wendy smiled.

"I was visiting this fool." Wendy said, pushing Michelle on the arm.

"Michelle is Wendy's cousin." Dipper said. Mabel's jaw dropped and she looked at Wendy.

"Really?" Mabel asked, shocked. Wendy rolled her eyes. Mabel looked at Michelle. "Hey, you're goth now? I was kind of getting used to you're artist style."

"Shut it, Mabel." Michelle said, getting annoyed by Dipper's sister already, and not in the teasing kind of way. But it's not like Mabel noticed. She just smiled and preceded to hug Michelle, who attempted to push her away. But Mabel's bear-like grip held her in place.

"You know, we should call Josh to come down." Mabel said, finally letting go of Michelle. Michelle straightened out her clothes, grumbling something under her breath.

"Nah, it's fine." Michelle said. "This one promised to embarrass Dipper if we got home in time." She said, thrusting her thumb towards Wendy.

"Yeah, thanks for that." Dipper said in a flat tone. Wendy shrugged, not really seeming to regret her decision.

"Besides, I probably gotta get clean, so we're just gonna get going." Michelle said. Dipper held out his fist, which repeatedly Michelle hit with hers in an almost impossible sequence. Their secret handshake.

"Next time you need a favor, call me instead of dragging me into the middle of the woods." He said.

"No promises." Michelle said, walking out. Wendy eyed Dipper before following Michelle. Dipper sighed.

"I'm going to the basement." He said.

"Seriously?" Mabel asked. "If it wasn't for Michelle, you would be stuck in that basement forever."

"That's not true...a man's gotta eat, right?" He said, making his way into the basement.

"Take a shower first at least!" Mabel yelled down after him.

He walked in front of his work desk, shedding his dirty jacket and looking as at his goggles. They were almost finished, they just needed one last thing...but what was it. Maybe some spectral monitors...no, he installed that a week ago. Maybe something that could monitor irregularities in wind movement...no, the slightest thing could set them off. This was impossible.

He sat down, not particularly concerned about his muddy jeans, and went through every piece of technology he ever came across, but still couldn't think of anything. He leaned back in the chair and faced the ceiling. Maybe this was a dead end. Maybe this was the brick wall he just couldn't pass.

Then, he remembered something that had happened during his summer at Gravity falls. During a party at Northwest Manor, he used a silver mirror to capture a level ten ghost. Well, more trap than capture, actually. But that was it. All this time he had been relying on science, and had forgotten about all the supernatural to it. Maybe if he combined the spectral monitors into a series of small silver mirrors, then the goggles' function should be stabilized. It was just a hunch, but that was the best he got. He opened a drawer in his desk and ruffled through it, finally pulled out a large thick sheet of silver metal.

He brought the metal over to his welding table, and put on some safety glasses and gloves, along with an apron. He had started using the metal table a few months back, and the first time he used it, he burned his palm badly. That was when he learned to wear gloves. He turned on the blow torch, and got so making small circles. These would go on the sides of the lenses, reflecting the outer images through the increasingly thinner layers of silver, and into the inside of the glass. Then, the silver would act as an amplifier to the spectral monitors, and a stabilizer for the electro-magnetic confinement. This was his last shot at finally cracking this. If he messed up, he would have to start all over from scratch.

Dipper turned off the blow torch, and there were five near-perfect circles. He got a metal ring bending tool and used it to pick up the circles, one by one, and place them in a bowl of nearby water. There was a hissing sound, followed by a lot of steam, when the metal made contact with the water. As soon as it did, Dipper got to work on straightening out the metal, to make sure it wasn't warped or bended, and to make it thinner as to fit inside the goggles, and become transparent.

After that, he took the metal out and waited for it to dry and cool. Dipper always thought it was strange how the metal stayed so hot, even after staying in the water for a while. When the metal cooled, he placed the small circles one by one on his desk. He took off all his protective gear, except for his gloves, and started to place the now thin, about 1 centimeter in diameter circles inside the lens.

After that, he welded the wires to the sensors placed around the metal, and connected the wires to the monitors and screens on the inside of the lens. It was actually going pretty well. He didn't expect it to, but hey, it was working. All it needed was this last wire.

Dipper suddenly felt a whole world of pressure on him as he brought the wire close to it's port. He told himself over in his head not to screw up. This was it, the thing he's been working on for months. A bead of sweat made it's way down his forehead. He tried to make his hand steady, but it just wasn't working, his hand was shaking slightly. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, trying to calm himself, then pushed the wire in as soon as his eyes opened.

There was a click, and time seemed to stand still. He put the tool down and backed away from the goggles.

 _Don't blow up, don't blow up._ He thought, as if willing the machine to work with his thoughts. Aster a second, there was another click, and a series of green lights appeared on the sides of the goggles. He froze for a second, then let out the breath he was holding in a laugh.

"YES!" He yelled at the top of his lungs. "FINALLY!" He fell onto his chair in a nervous heap, laughing slightly. After months, he finally did it. The knowledge from the journals helped, but mostly he did this from scratch. If they worked correctly on the first try, it would be even better.

He had to try them out. But, before he could do that, he had to let someone know. Michelle was probably busy with Wendy, so he probably shouldn't call her. Well, maybe he would send her a text. But he would definitely tell Mabel. And Josh, he had to call Josh. He pulled out his phone and sent a quick text to Michelle, then called Josh. Ther was a couple of rings, and he thought he wasn't going to pick up, but then there was a click.

" _Hello?_ " John asked on the other side of the line.

"John dude, big news." Dipper said. "You know those goggles that I've been working on all week?"

" _Dude, this isn't the best time. Can you call me back in about an hour?_ " John said. Dipper was confused. John was never busy. But apparently, now he was.

"Uh, all right." He said. There was a click that signaled John had hung up. Dipper looked at his phone, confused. Then he shook his head and went to the bottom of the stairs.

"Mabel! It's finished!" Dipper called. Dipper could hear the pounding of footsteps as Mabel made her way to the basement

"What, I thought I heard something." She said, looking around. Dipper rolled his eyes.

"I finished the goggles." Dipper said with a smile. Mabel smiled and gave her brother a playful push.

"That's great, Dipper!" She said. "Finally you built something that didn't explode." Mabel said. Dipper glared at her.

"Gee, thanks for the vote of confidence, Mabel, loved it." He said sarcastically. Mabel rolled her eyes.

"I'm just messing with you, bro-bro. So, you test them out yet?" She asked. Then a concerned look crossed her face. "They're not going to melt your face, are they?" She asked.

"No, if they did, I would've let you try them on." He said, smiling deviously. Mabel's face took on a mocked terror look.

"I am now _certain_ you're trying to kill me, Dipper." She said. Then her face got back into a smile. "Put them on, and let me go get my camera. Scrap-book-ortunity!" She yelled, then ran off. Dipper rolled his eyes and looked at his goggles.

 _Okay...this is the moment I've been waiting for. Don't screw this up, Dipper...again._ Dipper picked up the goggles, but looking at them now, they appeared more like sunglasses to him. He took a breath, and prayed that these goggles didn't blow up on his face.

He slowly raised them up to his face, and let them slide on his face shakily. After a second of holding them, making sure they weren't going to melt his skin, he shakily let go. They rested on his face like a normal pair of goggles would, so it seemed alright to him. He put on arm by his side and brought his left hand up to the sides of the goggles. After what seemed like an eternity of silence and waiting...he pushed the _on_ button.

There was a beep. Dipper flinched, and fought against his entire being not to throw them off right then and there. He took a deep breath and opened his eyes to darkness. After a second, there was another beep, and the world slowly lightened. He held his breath while it got lighter, and suddenly he could see again. The objects around him appeared the same, somehow unobstructed by the multiple mirrors and wires that connected to the lenses. He waited a second and turned his head. It all seemed to be working well. Which, in his case, was a first in a long time.

He looked around his room, but it all looked...normal. There was nothing out of the ordinary. He moved the glasses off his eyes, looking at them. He brought them back over to the table and opened them at the sides. he looked in and saw that...nothing was broken. Everything was in the proper place, the wires were all good, the silver was flawless.

They didn't work after all. He sighed and looked at the ground, disappointed. He wondered what had went wrong with his schematics. He thought his designs were flawless. He considered every possibility there was, every slight calculation he wrote. He turned this thing inside out and back again. There was no reason it shouldn't work. Dipper sighed and let them down, resting his hands on the desk as he bowed his head, trying to cope with the fact his once again failed. God, this was getting annoying.

"All right, Dipper, I got the camera! Get your picture face on!" Mabel yelled, running down the stairs into the basement. She held up a digital camera and before Dipper could say anything, a flash of light appeared. Dipper blinked, and Mabel put down the camera down, noticing his solemn face. "Oh, didn't work, did it?" She asked.

"Nah. I can put this down as 'failed invention number six.' Man, these are really starting to bug me." He said, whispering the last part to himself. Mabel walked over to him and put a hand on his back, trying to cheer him up.

"Hey, keep your head up, bro-bro. I'm sure you can solve this thing before dinner." She said. "Oh, actually, dinner's already done, you should come up." She said, smiling apologetically.

Dipper rolled his eyes and waved her off. She shrugged and went back upstairs. Dipper turned and looked at the goggles, scoffing as he stared at them. He picked them up and looked at them. He turned them around and upside down, rotating them in his hands.

"Well, they can't all be winners." He said. He was about to put them down, when he noticed something in the lenses. They were starting to glow an odd red color. Dipper held them up in a position right next to his face, and looked through them, but didn't put them on. There was a large red shape that appeared to be in the middle of the room. He placed the goggles back on his face, and looked at it. The shape was definitely large, but it seemed to have no boundaries. The red glow just kind of...faded into the air around it. It was constantly changing, warping, like metal in a forge, always being molded.

"... _What the hell?"_ He said out loud, to seemingly no one. He removed the goggles and looked at the space where the shape was, but it wasn't there. He put them back up, and the shape was there. He did this multiple times, but realized that he couldn't see anything without the goggles on. He placed them back into their original position on his face, and put his hands positioned away from the goggles, but kept them near his face to make sure he was safe. The shape then started to grow smaller, the warping seeming to slow down in a steady pace. After a second, Dipper noticed it was starting to resemble an almost humanoid figure.

"What is-" Before he could finish, there was a sudden flash of bright light, interrupting his question.

Then darkness.


	3. Chapter 3

Dipper woke to an aching headache, his brain seeming to be on fire. There was a steady beeping, with each beep pounding through his head like a sledge hammer. He groaned and opened his eyes, but his vision was all blurry, and the light hurt his eyes, which didn't help his migraines _at all_. Above his head were white, cardboard tiles, instead of the wooden beams that were always there. Confusion filled him, and he raised his head. As he did, he suddenly felt extremely tired, as if all the energy in him was gone. He looked in front of him, and saw a white and blue wall. He looked to the side and saw...Mabel. She appeared to be asleep, her head resting on her arms, which were placed crossed on his bed. She had fell asleep next to him. But why?

He looked around. There were monitors, medical equipment...

He was in a hospital. This was a hospital room. But, how did he get here? Where did he get hurt. He shifted in his bed, and another splitting headache was introduced to him.

"Uh," he groaned, "yep, that's a bitch. Uh, Why does it feel like my head's been done in with a sledgehammer?" He asked. Mabel sprung up, apparently noticing his voice even in her deep snoring sleep. and Dipper saw that she had been crying. Why was she crying?

"Dipper!" She yelled, causing another splitting headache. He put a finger on her lips.

"Shhh, sh, sh, sh." He whispered. "Inside voice, Mabel... _inside voice_." She chuckled as she tackled him into a hug, burying her face into his chest.

"Oh, Dipper!" She cried, now sad for some reason. "I-I th-thought you w-were gonn-na..." She started.

"Mabel, sweetie, I can't understand you when you don't speak properly." He said, as if he was talking to a child. Which, now that he thought about it, was actually rude and might have been a little but inappropriate at that moment. "Uh, nurse, could I get some tissues in here, please?" He said loudly. The nurse who happened to pass by the door as he said that. She looked in confused, then walked quickly away after a look of realization crossed her face. Maybe to actually get some tissues. Or maybe she was going to get a doctor...

It was a fifty-fifty chance. Or not, he didn't feel like doing math. That might _actually_ hurt.

Dipper patted the back of Mabel's head, somehow feeling slightly uncomfortable. The nurse came back, but not with any tissues. A man in a white lab coat, the doctor, he thought, walked in. Dipper looked at the nurse.

"You couldn't bring one tissue?" He asked her. She looked at him incredulously. "Do you not see the mess I'm dealing with?" He asked, gesturing to the still crying Mabel. The nurse rolled her eyes and left, leaving the doctor to do his thing. The doctor started to tap on one of the monitors, looking at all the others, looking for...something. Dipper had no clue what he was going on over there. He was no doctor. Which, he would hate to be, now that he thought about it. Though, he didn't know why.

"Hey, um, Doc, not really trying to be... _pushy_ , here, but uh...watcha doin' there?" He asked. The doctor didn't answer for a second, though, still tapping away onto one of the screens. Then he turned and looked at Dipper.

"Honestly, I don't know." The doctor said. Dipper raised an eyebrow, concerned

"Wow...that's comforting to hear from a doctor." He said. The doctor sighed and looked at the screen again. "Um, Doc...what exactly happened to me? What put me in here?" Dipper asked. The doctor looked at him strangely.

"You don't remember?" He asked. Now it was Dipper's turn to look incredulous. "Well...there's...really no easy way to tell you this...but...you've been...in a coma, Mr. Pines." He said. Dipper looked at him strangely.

"For how long?" He asked. A week? A month?

"...Two years." He said. Dipper froze. Two years? he's been asleep for... _two years_? But...what about...but he...he never... "How did this happen?"

"...I don't really know, Mr. Pines. You're parents brought you into the ER two years ago, and...you've been in ICU ever since then." He said. Dipper looked at the ground, still a little shocked. He had been asleep...for two years. That was never something he saw himself doing in his life. He looked over at his sister, laying on his bed, crying. She had stayed here, all this time? Of course not, there was school, John, and...Michelle. Oh, shit, Michelle.

She was definitely going to kill him. He had ditched her for two years. He couldn't imagine a scenario where she wasn't pissed. He let his head back and groaned. "I understand that this might be a little shocking, Mr. Pines, but I assure you, we will do anything we can to help you through your recovery."

"And right when I finally finished those damned goggles." He said to himself. The doctor looked at him strangely...he noticed people were doing that a lot.

"You're not...sad? Confused? Depressed?" The doctor asked. Dipper thought for a moment, looking through everything since he woke up.

"...Nope. I'm fine." He said. The doctor was silenced, looking at him up and down. Then the doctor looked at Mabel.

"Ms. Pines, would you come with me?" The doctor asked.

" _NO!_ " She yelled, which was thankfully muffled in his chest. Dipper rolled his eyes.

"Mabel, please? The doctor needs to do some doctor things. I'll still be here when you get back, Mabes. He just has to make sure I'm okay." He asked. She shook her head, hugging him tighter. He sighed, and looked at the doctor.

"Welp, I tried. Any ideas?" Dipper asked. The doctor looked at him strangely. He took a breath rubbing his forehead with two fingers.

"Orderly!" The doctor said. One of the orderlies from outside came in and picked up Mabel, carrying her outside, while she proceeded to kick and scream at him. Dipper smiled. Mabel, even after two years, still cared about him. Well, of course she did. They were twins. The doctor picked up a clip-board and looked at it. "I'll be right back. Perhaps you're suffering from some psychological shock."

He walked out, and Dipper lay back down and sighed, suddenly very tired. This was going to be tough. Still, two years? How could this had happened.

"I don't know. It stumps me." Someone said, with the sound of a person biting into an apple following. "Maybe our merging was too much for you to handle. I was almost worried, there." It was a girl. Dipper opened his eyes and looked at her.

She had fiery red hair, skin so pale, it was almost like chalk. Her eyes were bright red, seeming to stare into your soul. She wore a what seemed complete black...medieval armor? No, it seemed foreign, and, not in a racist way, Japanese. She was sitting cross-legged on the chair where Mabel was, eating an apple. The way she sat, and how she never blinked...if she wasn't eating that apple, Dipper could've swore she was a statue. But...she was unbelievably beautiful. No matter how scary she was, it was like she was too beautiful for it to matter. She must be some delusion or something.

"No. I am totally real." She said. Dipper blinked. What-?

"Did she just say?" She asked, finishing his thought, and smirking. "I'm reading your mind, Dipper." She said. Dipper sat up, suddenly very concerned. Was she a witch. Or telekinetic?

"No, I can only read _your_ mind at the moment." She said. She stood up, placing herself next to the hospital bed. "You're...special...Well, sort of...not very much, though. I wonder how I got stuck with this puny human?"

"Uh, I'm sorry, human?" He asked her. She sighed, appearing to be annoyed. "I'm sorry, _puny_?"

"Uh, I have to explain these things now, don't I?" She whispered, but Dipper could still hear her.

"Yes, that would be preferable." He said. She looked at him, then sighed.

"Okay, pine tree, you win." She said. Dipper's eyes widened as fear erupted in his mind. "Oh, you remember my nephew, Bill, don't you?" She asked. Dipper froze. She knew...about Bill...why did she call him her nephew? Wait...how much else did she know? "Oh, everything about you, Pines. Your old crushes, your favorite desserts, even that stash of porn you have hidden in the beams in your 'lab.'" She said. She leaned in close to him. " _Why is it all lesbian?_ " She asked.

Dipper leaned away from her. Who the hell was she? How did she know all this? She had better not touched his magazines, or else he was gonna be pissed. She rolled her eyes, which meant she had read his mind again. He put a finger up before she could say anything.

"Yes, you read minds! We get it, sweet-heart." He said. The name "sweet heart" seemed to anger her. "How do you know about Bill? Why did you call him your nephew?" He asked. She seemed surprised...at least, Dipper thought it was surprise.

"Because, _sweet heart_." She said mockingly, making a movement with her head that added to the insult. "Bill was, and I _die_ a little inside every time I say this, my nephew. But it's not like I consider him family anymore, what, after getting erased and all. And by a pair of little twerps and two old coggers. I always wondered why that nasty one got his memory back. But, not even with all the power in the world, he still couldn't defeat the easiest stinking four people in the universe." She said, crossing her arms. "Fucking loser."

"Wait...if Bill was a demon...and your his aunt...that means..." Dipper suddenly felt a new level of fear rise up. About ten levels of them. The girl rolled her eyes.

"I'm a _succubus_! Jeez, you're not only puny, you're mentally retarded." She said. Then she was suddenly floating, hovering an inch from his face. "I can't believe I'm stuck with _you_! Talk about unlucky."

"I don't think you're allowed to say retarded." Dipper said.

"So what? I said it, sue me."

There was a demon...an inch from his face. And he wanted to smack himself for, one, not recognizing it sooner, and two, for finding this girl just a little bit attractive. _Just_ a little bit. Even if she was. He gulped, realizing he had no weapons, no protection, and if she heard that last thought, he was more than likely dead. If this demon was as powerful as Bill, he was in serious trouble. She groaned loudly in exasperation.

"Okay, see, let's get some things straight here, Pines. One, my name is Fire, and you can't help but find me hot. I'm a succubus, literal demon of lust. Don't be too ashamed about it honey. Two, I can't hurt you. Not yet anyways, so don't you worry your fleshy little head about that." She said, tapping his head with one finger each when she said "fleshy", "little", and "head," which strangely felt...real. "And three...don't get it confused. I'm not as powerful as Bill..."

"...I'm _much_ stronger." She said, an evil smile crossing her face.

"...Stronger than Bill Great! Why do you _always_ have to get the bad ones, Pines? Why?!" He complained, calling himself out for being an idiot. Fire raised an eyebrow, and Dipper sighed. "I guess a date is out of the question, huh?"

"Oh, it wouldn't usually be, but one, your not cute enough, and two...let's just say you would need a high maturity level, and a _lot_ of endurance." She said. Dipper blushed.

"Okay, well, there goes my chance to have a restful recovery." He said. "I am starting to regret engaging in conversation with you."


	4. Chapter 4

Dipper lay down on the hospital bed, staring at the hole-filled, tile-lined ceiling. Lost in thought. He remembered a phrase from a song he heard. It was French..." _Tu n'as pas sommeil._ " Translated, it says "but you don't have sleep." Dipper found it ironic how he was so tired, but he was wide awake. Was he supposed to feel like this?

Fire laid down besides him, looking up at the ceiling. After a second, he felt her whisper in his ear:

" _What you looking at?_ " She asked. He looked at her, not changing the empty expression on his face. She stared back for a second, then looked back to the ceiling, biting her lip. He looked up to the ceiling, and started to count the holes that were present. He wondered how many there were, if he could name them all...he was bored. He groaned suddenly in exasperation, surprising he demon next to him.

"I need something to do." He said, a little more loudly than he wanted to. Fire jumped behind the bed, and a nurse walked in.

"Mr. Pines, is something wrong?" She asked. Dipper looked at the hiding demon, and then to the nurse.

"Could I see some of the board games, or perhaps a t.v.?" He asked as politely as he could. The nurse smiled and nodded.

"Just a moment." She said, disappearing out the door. Fire stood up and dusted off her clothes, sitting back next to Dipper.

" _Me dire quand il est temp._ " He said, remembering fully the words of another song he heard. Fire looked at him in surprise.

"You speak French?" She asked. He shook his head.

"No, I...they're just some lyrics to a bunch of French songs I know." He said.

"Oh..." She said. She stared at him, and Dipper could feel those red eyes boring into him like a couple of lasers. "Are you sad?" Dipper looked at her incredulously.

"Oh, I've just been asleep for two years. I'm as bright as day." He said, annoyed. She blinked.

"So what are you feeling?" She asked. Dipper raised an eyebrow. Did she no understand sarcasm?

"Yes, I'm sad, but...I don't exactly feel chatty right now, so...if you could...just drop it." He said, trying to state his feelings in a less offensive way. She shrugged.

"All right." She got down behind the bed. Dipper was about to ask why she did that, when the nurse came in. She had her arms nearly filled to the brink with boxes of different games.

"Oh, thank you." He said, smiling at her, while she dropped them on the bed.

"Would you like something else?" She asked. Dipper shook his head, and she was about to step out.

"Wait." He said, not wanting to be alone with Fire for another second. She turned around to face him. "Could you play with me? It's kind of boring here all alone, and I...I just want someone to play with?" He said. Then he chuckled. "I sound like a little kid."

"Oh, there's nothing wrong with that." The nurse said, sitting down at the edge of the bed. "Little kids are always so funny, especially when they're confused." Dipper chuckled. He reached to the pile of games and pulled up a box of checkers.

"Up for some checkers?" He asked.

"Sweet." She said, not at all professional. He laid out the board and the pieces and moved on, as she followed suit. "So, how are you? I mean, are you comfortable?"

"Yes, despite everything, I feel fine." He said. He ignored the look Fire gave him from behind the nurse. How did she get there without him seeing anyway?

"That's...nice, I suppose." She said. A silence ensued as the sound of chess pieces clicking against wood was the only sound present.

Dipper looked at the nurse. She looked pretty young...for a nurse. Well, he didn't think there was a set age to be a nurse, noticed that she had purple hair, hidden underneath a cap she wore. Strangely, it didn't look out of place, but more like it belonged there.

"It's nice to take a break." She said, interrupting the silence.

"Really?" He asked. "I imagine that you must work a lot as a nurse."

"Funny, people usually think just about the opposite." She said. "But I don't want to worry you about that."

"No, it's nice to hear someone talk about something _other_ than me." Dipper said. The nurse raised an eyebrow.

"First time I heard that from a guy...what's your name?"

"Really? You don't...it's Dipper. Dipper Pines."

"Chelsea." She said, smirking. Dipper wondered why she was doing that, but shook it off. "So, what ended you up in here?"

"I was in a coma for two years." He said. Chelsea blinked, smile gone. Dipper waved his hand, as if it wasn't a big deal. "I've gotten use to it. It's something I've accepted."

"...Wow...that's really...mature. Wasn't expecting that from a eighteen-year old."

"...I'm 18...that's right. Huh, I've almost forgotten. Well, at least I got to feel what it's like being a teenager." He said. Chelsea rolled her eyes.

"Well, I'm sure you could use some company after all you've been through." She said.

"That would be nice. I-If you're not busy with anything else." Behind Chelsea, Fire rolled her eyes and coughed into her fist.

" _Desperate._ " She said through her cough, obviously talking about Dipper, as to tease and/or annoy. He tried to ignore her, but it was too loud. Chelsea turned her head, facing straight towards Fire. Dipper felt a piece of panic rise up in him, and Fire looked just as surprised as he felt.

"A succubus, huh?" Chelsea asked. Dipper's eyes widened. She could see her. "Not really what they were expecting, but it's pretty close." She said, turning to Dipper. "You're a lucky guy." She pulled out a thin piece of glass and pressed it. "Sir, I found the aspect. What would you like me to do."

" _Activate._ " A voice responded, coming from the glass. She waited a second before tapping the glass again and putting it back into her pocket. She stood up and walked out, leaving a confused demon and Dipper alone in the room.

"...Uh..." Fire said.

"Not even going to ask." Dipper said, even though he knew he should be worried. He fell back on the bed. "I'm tired of all this goddamn weirdness."

Fire looked at Dipper with an annoyed face. He guessed she was about to point out that he was weird himself, especially since she knew about his personal magazines, but instead she looked at the door.

"Oh," She said suddenly, surprising Dipper, "the 'rents are here." Then she walked over and sat by the windowsill, while Dipper's parents and sister walked in, followed by Michelle, Josh, and the doctor. He ignored the fact that Fire knew they were coming, and noticed something else.

They didn't see her. Chelsea had seen Fire, but his parents and sister didn't. Before he could speculate this, and before a single sound could be uttered, Mabel threw herself onto him in a bear hug, crying again. He grunted, his body still weak, but he overall felt fine.

Why was that?

"Hey, dude." Josh said, walking up to him. Dipper looked at him. It was strange, but Dipper felt as if he forgot what he looked like. Black hair, green eyes, and acne out the arse. At least he used to. Now, he had no pimples, and he looked...buffer. Like someone had replaced the original josh with a newer, cooler version. "Nice to see you back."

Then he looked at Michelle. She looked...amazing. She had changed her goth look, that was no surprise. She was more mature looking and, though he hesitated to say this, curvy. Now she wore what looked like an expensive jacket, _way_ out of her financial reach, the red streak in her hair was gone, and she was wearing...makeup? Okay, now he was officially freaked out. She _never_ wore makeup. In fact, in when he was thirteen, she had completely sworn that she would never wear makeup. Time has _definitely_ been kind to her.

"We missed you, Dipper." She said. The way she spoke, that didn't sound like the Michelle he knew at all. Did these guys really change that much? It was at that moment when Dipper realized how long he was in the dark.

"Oh, Dipper." His mom said. She looked a lot like himself and Mabel, except with a rounder nose and blue eyes. "I'm so glad you are all right. I _knew_ those death-traps of his were no good."

" _Inventions_." He said, but so low that not even Mabel heard it.

"Oh, not this again. It's healthy for someone to follow their dreams." His father repeated. He looked a lot like Dipper, except had paler skin than him and plain brown eyes, and he had dirty blonde hair.

"Yes, but it is _unhealthy_ when that dream leads to a coma! I should've put a stop to this the moment it started." She said. Dipper looked at his parents with a quizzical face. They never argued like that.

"Margret, please, not right now." His dad said. The doctor walked to the monitors and began to tap away again. Dipper couldn't help but just stare at the people in front of him. They were his friends, his family, but now...they felt like strangers to him. They didn't look, act, even _feel_ they way they were supposed to. It was like seeing ghosts, but they weren't. It all felt...off. The doctor sighed and turned to his parents.

"It appears we're going to have to run some more tests, just to make sure there's nothing else wrong. You an stay until visiting hours end, but he has to get some rest."

"Rest?" Mabel asked. "He's been asleep for _two years_!" She sounded scared, hurt, and frankly, Dipper couldn't blame her.

"Yes, I understand that. But his body has been virtually deteriorating for that amount of time. He needs time for his system to get used to moving and working from now on. There's has to be lots of physical therapy, and we still have to test for any signs of diseases or sicknesses he may have contracted."

"I don't want him to be in this place any longer than he already has." His mom said.

"I understand, ma'am, but it could be fatal to release him this early in recovery. As a doctor and his personal physician, I have to keep him here until I am sure it's safe for him back into the outside world." He said. Mabel looked at the doctor with tears welling in her eyes. She was definitely going to cry.

"Hey, Dipper." Fire said out of nowhere. Dipper ignored her. "Just thought you should know, there's someone coming here. And in about three seconds, you'll be out on the streets."

Dipper ignored her and looked at his family. But before he could say something, a light of red and yellow blinded his vision.

He closed his eyes, the light burned them. He opened them after a second, and saw that he was now in the streets, still in his hospital robes. Dipper stood up and looked around, confused and scared, Fire right besides him. He was panicking. How did he get here?

"...told you." She said. He looked at her incredulously, then shook it off and looked back around. What the hell happened to the hospital? It was right here a second ago. There was a flash of red light behind him, and he turned around, stepping back to defend himself. There stood a man, dressed in what seemed like red tights, and yellow lightning traced the suit. When he spoke, his voice seemed to echo in itself, and his face appeared to vibrate and almost smudge against reality.

"Hello, Mr. Pines. We need to talk."


	5. Chapter 5

Dipper sat on the ground, staring at the figure in front of him. There was a silence that enveloped all around him, and Dipper couldn't help but feel intimidated. He sat there, just staring at the figure.

"...Who are you?" He asked.

"I'm the Speedster." He said. That name took a little of the intimidation away. "Not the best nickname, I know. There are somethings that I need to discuss with you." He said. Dipper looked at the figure up and down, not sure what to do.

"Discuss what?" He asked hesitantly.

"I'm form a vast and very secret organization called Arc Angel."

"What does that have to do with me?" Dipper asked.

"You've bonded with a demon. We need to make sure that you're not a threat to anyone, yourself or otherwise." The Speedster said. Dipper was now both afraid and a little annoyed.

"I don't need help." He said, trying to sound more confident than he was.

"Yes, I'm sure. But, if you are unstable or anything of the sort, we will need to take you into custody."

"Uh, yeah, I don't think so." He said.

"Only if you're a threat. If you're not, we will leave you alone. Unless you choose to come with us."

"Yeah, I'm not going with you."

"Of course you're not. But I will have to do a psych eval. And even after that, I will have to study over the course of a week, to make sure that you won't explode or turn into...something very unpleasant." He said. Dipper resisted the urge to ask what they considered to be unpleasant.

"Can we _not_ do that?" Dipper asked.

"I don't have much of a choice here, guy. My boss is very touchy." He said. Dipper sighed.

"...Can you at least stop that goddamn thing your doing with your face?" He asked. The figure shrugged, and his face began to fucos into reality, until he was an identifiable human being. Dipper felt a little less scared now, but that didn't stop him from being extremely nervous. He had no idea what this person wanted from him, and he didn't think he really wanted to find out. "All right, now can we at least talk this out."

"Shoot." He said. His voice was no longer echo-y, so Dipper started to feel more confident.

"Okay, I really just want to go back to the hospital and rest. So, can you, like, wait until I get better until you take me to wherever you're taking me." Really, he just wanted this person to go away and never come back again, but he didn't think that that was an option now.

"...Three weeks." He said. "Then I have to take you in for eval. If anything happens before that, go to Echo Creek and look for a boy named Marco Diaz." And with that, he disappeared, in a large flash of red and yellow. Dipper looked around, and saw that he was alone. he sighed and stood up, stretching.

"Wow, I thought he would never leave." Fire said. Dipper groaned and turned to her, annoyed.

"Not in the mood right now, Fire." He said. Fire frowned at him.

"Hey, don't let the big bad boy in tights scare you." She said in a mocking tone.

"Jerk off." He said, angry, walking back to the hospital.

"Hey, hey, don't be like that." She said, grabbing his arm. He stopped, annoyed, and looked at her. "Hey, I understand that you're upset, and I'm sorry for making fun off you, but you just make it so easy."

"That's exactly how Michelle used to talk." Dipper said, turning sad at the thought of his past friend, of how much she had changed. How much she had moved without him. How much of her life he had missed. Fire, being able to sense his thoughts, did something he didn't expect. She hugged him, in a very awkward way, like she had never hugged someone before. Dipper froze, unsure of what to do. Why was she touching him?

"Because you're sad, dumb-ass." She said. "And if you make too much of this, I'm going to punch you." He chuckled. She seemed so much like Michelle, before the accident. Maybe she could be his friend after all. He still felt he shouldn't trust her, that he shouldn't even be talking to her, but for some reason he couldn't help himself.

"Your hugs are terrible...but thanks." He said, hugging her back. She let go, stepped back, and crossed her arms.

"Now let's get you back inside. If you die on me, I'm going to be in a lot of trouble." She said. Dipper rolled his eyes.

"Wow, so nice to see how much you care about my personal well-being." He said in a dead tone. She shrugged.

"What can I say, I'm a charitable demon." She walked off, leaving Dipper alone in the streets. He shook his head and followed her. Although, he did have to force himself to keep his eyes forward and his mind clear. he didn't want to deal with _that_ for three weeks.

"Too late, Pines. Take a picture, it'll last longer." She said.

"I would, but I'm pretty sure you don't have an image, ya vampire." He said, teasing.

"Meat bag." She retorted.

"Air cloud." He answered.

"Don't call me air cloud."

"Don't call me meat bag." She huffed.

"I should've let you wallow into depression."

"But who would you talk to?" He asked, punching her lightly in the arm.

"Someone with a better sense of _everything_." She answered, returning the punch. There was silence a silence ensued, before Fire asked: "Why are you being so... _normal_ towards me?"

"Well, if you're going to be stuck in my head for eternity, better make the best of it. Plus, I don't want an angry demon in my head. Yeah, I've seen the other end of that, and it is _not_ pleasant." He said. Fire rolled her eyes.

"Well, usually by now, most men would've either tried to rape me, or run away screaming. So, all in all, you're doing pretty well so far."

"Yeah, let's hope I can keep it up." He stepped inside the hospital and walked to the lady at the front desk front desk. "Hello, I'm a patient of Dr. Johnson. My name is Dipper Pines." The lady looked at him incredulously, but picked up the phone on the desk.

"Hello, Dr. Johnson...there's a someone here who claims he's a patient of yours...Pines, Dipper, he-...hello? Hello?" he said, talking into the phone, when Dr. Johnson walked out of the door behind him and went straight to Dipper.

"Where have you been?! You're not healthy enough to be out by yourself!" He said, which both offended and saddened Dipper. "Come, we must get you back to the ICU for-" The good doctor was cut off by an explosion. Dipper didn't know if it was an explosion per say, all he could tell was that there was a loud explosion-like _noise_ , followed by screaming and crying. The fire alarm went off, and people everywhere started to run wildly, in all different directions. People were trampled by the panic, voices could be heard calling out in pain. Dr. Johnson was calling out to everyone, telling them to calm down.

Dipper remembered his family, and felt a spear of fear when he rembered his family. He ran to the door, bursting through the back doors of the E.R. room. He ran the halls and corridors, looking for any sign of his family, John, or Michelle. Yet, he found nothing. He didn't know wether to be sad or grateful. He ran through the corridors to the ICU room, past the torrent of patients, all pushing, shoving, and trampling him. His body was not used to all the activity it was in after two years of _in_ -activity, and it was taking a toll on him. He felt as if his muscles were about to rip and tear, his lungs about to burst like water balloons. He saw the double glass doors of the ICU closed, the flames of the explosion contained just behind them, always shifting, light and dark at the same time. Even through the glass he could feel the heat of the flames, the smoke gathering at the top like a thick blanket of darkness.

And his family was in there. He just knew they were. He pulled at the doors, trying to get to them.

"Dipper, stop!" Fire said, appearing next to him. "Think about what you're doing!"

"I'm going to save them! They're still in there!" He yelled, continuing what he was doing.

"Dipper, they're fine. They're outside, you just have to come with me, and I promise-"

"No! I can't let them die!" He said, trying with all his might, which was barely enough. He was becoming more exhausted by the second, but he didn't care. he didn't care that he knew he might die. He didn't care that the exhaustion was starting to get to his brain.

"Dipper, if you open that, you will die! Think about how that will make your parents, your friends feel. Think about her!"

"I am!" He yelled. _She doesn't care about me,_ he told himself. _All she cares about is staying alive, that's why she doesn't want me to go in. She doesn't care about me._

"Dipper!" Fire said, horrified. "You know that's not true! I don't want you to go in because I do care about you. I don't want to see you get hurt, and neither would your family. Think about Michelle, Mabel, John, your parents!"

"Shut up! Just shut up!" He yelled, stopping and turning to her. "You don't know a thing about them!"

"Dipper, please." She said, in a calmer, yet still pleading tone. "If you don't stop, I'll have to stop you. You're smarter than this!"

"I said shut up! You don't know me! You don't a thing about me! Just go away!"

"Dipper, I know what you're feeling, but this isn't the way to go about things. You're scared and hurt and confused, but you can't just go throwing yourself into danger because of it. You're not in you're right mind!" She said.

"What do you know?! You're just a demon! You don't the slightest thing about people! All you care about is yourself!" He yelled. Fire gaped at him, eyes widening, tears starting to develop. "You don't know! You don't know. You don't..."

His voice faded into a whisper, and he collapsed against the wall. He held his head in his hands, covering his ears, trying to block all the pain and anger he was feeling. Trying to stop all the cries around him. Trying to find his humanity again. When did he become this broken? What had happened that made him like this? When did he become this pitiful...thing. He felt tears start to develop in his eyes. When did he become just a shell. That's all he was now. Just a shell. His family, his friends, they didn't deserve a burden like him. maybe it was better if he ended it all.

"...Dipper, you don't mean that." Fire said. but he wasn't listening. He squinted his eyes to block out the fire, the pain he felt for seemingly no reason. He felt a hand on his shoulder. He looked up and saw Fire staring at him, a determination in her eyes. "Listen here, Pines, you have no idea what kind of shit I've been through for you, so no way I'm letting you give up like this. You aren't getting out of this that easy."

He felt surprised and hurt by her. The strangest thing was, there were tears in her eyes. When she spoke, her voice broke.

"You can't do that. You can't just make someone care about you and then just leave. That's not right. Now, listen here. We are getting out of here, _everyone_. That includes you. Got it."

"...Are you really a demon?...They're not supposed to be like this...not the way I know them."

"Dipper, I am _not_ like other demons." She said. "Not anymore. Even if I wanted to be." He looked into her eyes, and noticed her tears glowed. Or maybe that was just the light from the fire next to them. He breathed out, letting out some of the frustration he was feeling. He never expected himself to blow up like that. Maybe the full weight of things, the coma, how everyone had changed, had finally gotten to him. He waited a few moments before speaking.

"Listen, can you not tell anyone about the breakdown I just had?" He asked her. She nodded, regaining her composure.

"Yeah, just, don't let _this_ become a thing." She said. Dipper rolled his eyes. "So, let's get out of here."

He stood up, but heard a hissing behind him. He turned, just as the doors burst behind him. The force threw him back, and through the glass of the hallway. He was temporarily blinded, and his head was in a short state of shock. The next thing he knew he was falling. He knew the ICU was about fifteens stories off the ground. Fifteen stories...what a way to go.

"Dipper!" Fire yelled next to him. He didn't see her, but he knew it was her. He turned his had to look at her. "Grab my hand!" She said. Dipper was confused. Why did she want him to grab her hand. Maybe it was just something to calm her for the end. "Hurry!" She said forcefully. He did so, and Fire pulled herself closer to him. What happened next was strange.

She seemed to evaporate, her body turned into smoke. The smoke covered him. His had a warped feeling to it, and he closed his eyes. When he did, everything looked blue. He could still see the hospital, the lights, but everything seemed to be doused in a shade of blue. But the fire, it still had the red and orange glow to it.

Dipper noticed that he had stopped moving. He felt the air around him stop, almost as if he was frozen in the air. He dared to look down at the ground. It was an inch from his face. He moved he looked back up, his mind spinning. He moved his head forward, and his body seemed to float into a tilt, until he was in an upwards position. He breathed hard as he looked down at himself. His body...

Was on fire. His body was covered in flames, billowing and glowing a red-orange.

"...Wh-...what the heck?" He said. He floated down until he's feet met the ground, and suddenly his legs gave out.

He fell to the ground, and the world seemed to go dark around him. As his vision faded, he saw Mabel, Michelle trying to pull her away, tears in both of their eyes. He could hear them screaming, but he was too far gone to speak. The world went black.


	6. Chapter 6

Dipper woke up outside of the hospital, lights and horns blaring all around him. It was dark now, maybe midnight. He sat up groggily, not sure what the ringing in his head was, but it was definitely there. He groaned and rubbed his head. He tried to remember what happened. What he thought had happened, well...that was impossible. That couldn't have happened, right?

But he looked up, and he saw the rest of the hospital in flames. Next to him, Fire was curled up to him, eyes wide, looking absolutely horrified.

"Fire? Fire, what happened?" He asked.

"I...I can't, Dipper...I can't handle it..." She said in an almost whisper.

"Fire, what's wrong?" He asked. Fire was shaking her head slowly, not hearing him.

He looked back up at the hospital, feeling a horrible sense of dread as it continued to burn. He stood up and made his way to the ambulances, Fire slowing him down as she refused to let go of him. As he got nearer to the ambulances, he cut through a small strip of the nearby forest, so he was temporarily hidden in the shadows.

"All right, we have all the witnesses." A voice said. It was muffled. Dipper looked over and saw several men, dressed in what looked like army suits and gas masks, completely black. The had large rifles with flashlights on them, shining the beams in the faces of few patients from the hospital. Dipper was about to walk towards them, but...there was this feeling in his gut that told him to stop. Even if they were going to help him, they just felt...off. Dipper ducked slowly and quietly into the trees, where he was hidden completely. One of them made a hand signal, and each man lined up behind a patient. Men, women, children, elderly, sick, healthy, there was so may people there. Dipper watched in horror as each gun was raised, touching the back of the heads of each patient.

He wished he could have looked away. But he didn't there was a chorus of short,blinding lights and muffled gunshots. The splatter of blood and the thumping of flesh as the bodies hit the ground. Dipper eyes widened as fear, grief, horror rose in every pore of his being. Their bodies were laying in twisted and warped positions, the blood splattered on the ground in sickening ways. He saw one of the victims, an boy no younger than ten, staring at him with a nothingness in his eyes, a cold darkness behind him. He couldn't help as those eyes borrowed their way into his soul and mind. His eyes teared and he shook violently.

 _No. No. NO. NO!_ He thought, his mental screams getting louder, until he feared the would become voiced. He stumbled backwards, away from this horror that had taken place before him. Ten people. Ten people slaughtered right in front of him. And he did nothing. He couldn't help them. Those eyes, that darkness, it would be there forever, in every inch of his soul. He walked blindly, not knowing where he was going, just that he had to get away. Away from those guys in the masks, away from the bodies...just away.

"Dipper?" Fire asked. She had finally snapped out of her frozen state, only to find Dipper in one. "Dipper, talk to me."

"They just...killed them." He said in a distant voice, his mind in a shock. "Why? Why did they..." He said. His mind broke through his shock, all the horror and fear catching up to him. He suddenly knelt over, bile rising in his mouth. Fire held his arms, trying to comfort him. When he finished, he stumbled back, falling into a sitting position. Fire held him close, saying words that were lost to him.

Why? Why was this all happening? What did he do that made the universe hate him? That made those people die? All of this...this was his fault.

"Dipper, you don't know that." Fire said. "This isn't your fault. What happened back there, it was awful...but you had nothing to do with it." She said. He didn't respond, tears still falling down his face. She turned him around forcefully, staring him dead in the eyes with an almost anger. "Dipper, I am _not_ going to sit here and feel sorry for yourself. It had _nothing to do with you_! Do you understand?!" She practically yelled. His eyes were still filled with tears, but slowly...he nodded. He wasn't sure if he meant it or not...but it was something.

Just then there was the sound of radio chatter and footsteps on leaves.

" _Be careful. Asset is considered to be armed and dangerous. Non-lethals only._ " They weren't going to kill him. At least, not yet. Dipper wasn't sure if he was relieved or disappointed. Fire looked at him, scared.

"Dipper, we have to get out of here. Now!" Fire said, pulling Dipper up. Dipper let himself be led, and found himself running. Fire held his hand hard, not letting him go for anything. Dipper wasn't sure where he was going, and frankly, neither did Fire.

They just knew they had to run. And they couldn't stop for anything. The pounding of footsteps and clinking metal followed them, along with a sense of dread that seemed to loom over the air. They didn't stop to think of a plan. Fear drove them forward. Fear of the masked men. Fear of what followed. Fear of what was behind them. Soon they came to a stopping point, and Fire forced Dipper into the bushes, hiding him in the shadows, placing herself besides him in the shrubs. The masked men were right in front of him, but they hadn't seen him. Dipper wasn't relieved yet. He couldn't be. Whenever he was relieved, itmeat there was something else.

There was always that fear that stayed with him.

" _There's nowhere to run!_ " One of the masked men said, maybe to him, maybe not. " _Just come in easily and you won't be harmed!_ "

Yeah, like he was going to believe that. He had to tell Fire something, but he was afraid of getting the attention of the masked men. Then he realized, he could just think them.

 _Fire._ He thought. She looked at him. _Can you do what you did earlier, when we were falling_ _?_ She shook her head, looking afraid. _W_ _e don't have much of choice here._ She looked so scared about doing it, but she gave him a single firm nod. Then, like earlier, she exploded into a mist, covering his body. He closed his eyes, almost on instinct, and when he opened them, his vision was like what he remembered. The world was around him was a dark blue, but the masked men, they were glowing red orange, outlined in themselves, almost like a cartoon. Thermal vision. He remembered it, that's what this was. He was seeing things not in color, but in temperature. Hot and cold. That's why the fire was glowing like it was, and everything else wasn't.

Dipper raised his arm instinctively, palm out, fingers clenched, and aimed it at one of the masked men.

"Stop resisting!" He said, his gun raised to Dipper. Dipper didn't move, didn't speak. Just unclenched his fingers. Almost as if on cue, a fireball shot out and hit the man straight in the chest. The man's body was lifted off the ground and flew through the air like a ragdoll. He landed only about a foot back, but Dipper was stunned and confused by this. The rest of the men raised their guns and aimed them at him. Dipper's other hand raised up towards the other and he unclenched both his hands. Immediately, the flames came out like a torrent, shooting nonstop towards the men. The flames hit them, throwing them back. Dipper didn't stop the fire until all the men were unconscious. He closed his hands and the fire.

"...Is...is that it?" He asked, unsure of what to do.

Suddenly, he felt like the energy was being sucked out of him. He fell to one knee, and he closed his eyes. When he opened them, his vision was normal, and he felt extremely tired. He stood up shakily, and Fire grabbed his arm to steady him.

"Careful, Dipper, careful." She said, straightening him up. He saw the sprawled bodies of the masked men, and suddenly felt sick to his stomach.

"Are...are they...?" He couldn't finish, but Fire caught on right away.

"No! No, they're all right. You didn't hurt anyone." She said. He sighed in relief, feeling the panic leave him. He looked around, and suddenly began to wonder how he had did that. "I'll explain later, just...let's get out of here before they wake up."

She said. He nodded, wanting to get away from this as fast as possible. He wanted to go home, to sleep in his bed, to see his family, to see his friends, to see Michelle, to just pretend that everything was normal...but it wasn't. What happened today...he had a sure feeling of looming doom that this wasn't the end of things.

But he wanted it so much to be. He wrapped his arm around Fire's neck, using her as a prop as they limped away. No direction, no destination, just...wandering. Not sure of anything. And Dipper felt that he was just about tired of not being sure.

* * *

(A LOOK AT THE ENEMY)

The sergeant stood up, rubbing his head. This asset wasn't like anything they had seen before. He felt embarrassed. He had underestimated this kid. He thought because he had been asleep for two years that he would be weak and vulnerable.

But it wasn't going to get any worse. He had gotten rid of the witnesses, and made sure to get rid of all tapes and records. He needed to report this back to the big boss.

Standing, he walked back to a complete black car, stepping in. As he closed the door, a picture can be seen on the side of the door. The picture is of an eagle, a arch of thirteen stars above it, three golden arrows in its talons. On the picture, read seven deadly words. "Department of Defense..."

"United states of America."


	7. Chapter 7

Take the scene to an abandoned motel in the rural outskirts of Los Angeles. No working...anything, really. All water, electricity, everything. All that was usable in there was were beds, a few blankets and sheets, and maybe three pillows. Dipper sat down and rested. After four hours of walking aimed, towards nothing, even this run down, brick broken place was a sanctuary.

Barely.

He had no idea what this instinct to hide was, but he somehow knew that if he went outside, he would get caught. He sat there and waited for...something. He didn't know for what. Just...for something. An opportunity, maybe.

"Hey, Dipper, I'm back!" Fire yelled, floating in through the door of the room he was in. "I got some human food for you, and some charcoal for me!" She said pulling out some sandwiches most likely from a gas station.

"Gee, thanks." He said, voice devoid of any real appreciation as his eyes followed a cockroach that scurried across the floor. Fire gave him a sympathetic smile.

"Hey, brighten up Pines. As you people say, it could be worse, right?" She said. Dipper raised an eyebrow.

"...Not really." He said, taking the food from her. "I'm still trying to wrap my head around what had happened back there." Fire sighed.

"...Look, Dipper, it wasn't your fault. I don't know what happened back there, or why, but what we need to do is to lay low until we can be sure that you're safe."

"I guess. I just feel something...off about this whole thing." He said. Fire shrugged and stuffed her face with a handful of charcoal, dissolving in her mouth in less than a second.

"Trust me, it's not the most confusing thing I've gotten myself into." She said. Dipper stared at her, an estranged look on his face. He didn't know how to act towards her. He still didn't know how to act towards her. He didn't even know if he could trust her completely. He didn't even know of he should.

"I know I'm going to regret asking, but what exactly have you gotten yourself into?" He asked. Fire shrugged, stuffing her face again.

"I'm a demon, one that's been around longer than Bill, and _somehow_ kept my sanity. The number of things I've seen, done, heard, is vast in quantity." She said with her mouth full of burning coal. Dipper gave her an incredulous look.

"That didn't clear anything up. Like, at all." He said. She shrugged. "And anyways, we can't stay here forever. My family's still in danger." Dipper looked at the sandwich in his hand. "How did you pay for this?"

"Not important. And don't worry, D. They're completely fine." She said.

"How can you know that? They could be in some basement or lab being tortured, or worse." He said, and suddenly lots of...unpleasant things went through his mind.

"I just checked on them. They're completely fine." She said. Dipper stared at her strangely.

"Wait...how did you check on them?" He asked. She smirked.

"Well, with some demon influence and a lot of human make-up..." Her hair started to shrink and change, until the long flame red hair became a short dark brown hairstyle, and what seemed like pounds of makeup appeared on her face. Even though she looked kind of like she did before, it was like looking at a totally different person. But, he still liked it when she didn't wear makeup. Natural looked good on her.

"Aww, thanks, D. Natural looks good on you, too." She said, sliding up next to him. He blushed wildly, frowning.

"Yeah, you really got to stop that." He said, his voice almost breaking. "So, who are you supposed to be?"

"Call me Emily. It sounds a bit more appropriate with this form. I just need some glasses..." She said, digging through the plastic bag. "Ever since I found out that other humans could see me, I needed to get something to give me a hiding place in public, while still allowing me to act do everything I would be able without it. A secret identity, if you will."

"All right, Batman." Dipper said, rolling his eyes. "...How is my family doing?"

"Well, after napping for two years, thinking they had you back, and then dying in that fire, they-"

"Wait." Dipper interrupted her."...what do you mean, 'died?'" He asked.

"Oh, well, according to their local papers, the fire that burned down the hospital, it 'tragically claimed the life of a comatose teenager.'" She said, quoting an online magazine. Dipper stared at her, eyes wide.

"They...think I'm...dead?" He said quietly. She gave him a piteous look, sitting on the bed next to him and wrapping her arms around him in a hug. He stared at the ground. They thought he was dead. They had lost him for two years, and when he woke up, it gave them hope. That they could have him back.

But he died. He crushed that hope for good.

"I have to go back." He said. Fire looked at him blankly.

"What?" She asked.

"I have to go back. Imagine how they're feeling without me. If I stay away, then what could happen to them." he said getting up and walking to the doorway. Fire grabbed his arm before he could leave.

"Uh, I'm not sure you're mind is working right, but we still got those masked goons out after us. Now, I don't feel like having you die on me, so no matter how bad you feel, you have to stay _right here_." She said. Dipper looked at her, and he could feel tears reach his eyes.

"...Fire...I can't leave them..." He said.

"I'm not asking you to. Just wait, all right?" She said. "You'll see them eventually. Just wait, all right." She smiled. it was different from her smirks. It was warm, welcoming. Dipper found himself drawn by it, an emotion that he couldn't control. With no warning, he grabbed her and pulled her to him roughly, placing his lips on hers.

Somewhere in the back of his mind, he told himself to stop. But his body was moving on it's own. For a second, Fire melted into it, her body relaxing. But she seemed to snap to reality and push him away. But the yearning was still there.

"Dipper, listen to me." She said, a stern but flustered look on her face. "You have to fight the emotion."

"Fire, I want you." He said.

"Dipper, if you don't snap out of it, I'll snap you out of it." She said. He didn't listen. He tried to grab her again, but she did something he didn't expect.

She punched in the face.

Hard.

Dipper fell to the ground, a ringing in his head. He rubbed his cheek where the fist made contact, wincing. He was hurt, but the yearning was gone. He became aware of his actions, and blushed at what he did. But he was also confused.

"Fire, what just happened?" He asked. She was silent for a moment, before she sighed.

"I'm a succubus, Dipper. A demon of lust. Try and put two and two together." She said. She was...angry. Or something like that." _You men are all the same_." She said under her breath. Dipper heard her, but he didn't react. "Whenever a human and succubus become to intimate, their demon nature comes out, and they absorb their prey." She said. Dipper looked horrified and sad.

"...So...I was prey." he said to himself, looking at the ground. How could he let himself lose control like that? What was wrong with him. He spent the last two years making himself stronger, but there were things he was till vulnerable to. He wasn't Superman. Maybe he lost that resistance while he was in a coma, but still, he didn't think he would be so easily influenced like that. Or maybe he did, and wanted to be. But that couldn't be it. Could it?

Fire groaned, an angry yet exasperated look on her face. Dipper looked at her, estranged. He wondered what was going on with her, what had happened in her past. He figured he would find out when she was ready to share it.

"I've had just about enough of this stuff. Demons, Arc Angels, whatever. This is getting too much for me." He said. Fire's glare deepened.

"So what? What are you going to do?" She asked. He thought about that for a moment. He really had no idea on what he was going to do. It was a problem he couldn't solve. Impossible. "Nothing's impossible. Whatever is happening, it's happening. You can't back out. You have to face this."

He looked at her, trying to find something to say, but coming up with nothing. As if to bail him out, the sounds of a helicopter appeared out of nowhere. At first it was distant, not really raising concern. Then it grew louder, and as if on cue, Fire and Dipper looked up to the ceiling, as if they could see through it. Then they made their way slowly to the window, and peeked through the blinds, careful not to make a sound. There was in fact a helicopter, but it was a rescue copter. Which was strange, since there were no apparent emergencies. Perhaps it was something that happened somewhere else, like a car crash or something. Either way, Fire and Dipper sighed. The incident at the hospital had put them both on edge.

Dipper backed up and sat on the bed. Was this his life now? Constantly looking over his shoulder? He had fought the literal end of the world, but this was something extremely different. He wasn't sure if he was the bad guy or the good one. He saw the slaughter at the hospital, but even so, the most horrible things can be done with good intentions. So who was he in all this?

"I'm getting tired of this." He said. "Who the hell even are these guys?!" Fire shrugged, unsure of what to tell him.

"Maybe some demon worshiping cult, or mercenary group. Our little fire show didn't go unnoticed."

"So what do they want with us?" He asked. She shrugged again.

"Kill you, experiment on you, it could be anything." She said. Silence consumed the room for a moment as Dipper collected his thoughts. He did the calculations in his head. He had nothing on him. No money, no way to get around, no tech. These guys had all that, and way more. His chances of survival were in single digits. "Maybe we should see that guy from that one place. The one in the red suit." Dipper blinked.

"What? Why?" He asked. She shrugged.

"It's not like we have many options here, Dipper. We've got guys with guns after us, and it's only a matter of time before they track us down. This time with probably BIGGER GUNS. I think it's at least worth one visit."

"Well, I see a few problems with this. One, we don't even now where Echo Creek is. It could be anywhere, all that guy said was 'Echo Creek.' And he only gave us one name. 'Marco Diaz.' That could be at least a thousand people in the country, assuming this place is in this country. And we have no money, no way to get anywhere besides walking. What are we supposed to do?"

"I have a solution to that. And how about we just do some research at a library or something." She asked.

"Uh, this isn't Piedmont. This is L.A.. I have no idea how _anything_ works here, where anything is. Where are we supposed to find a computer?" He asked. Fire gave him a blank look.

"What's a computer?" She asked. Dipper blinked, thinking she was joking, but then realized she was serious.

"Wait, you know what guns are, but not computers?" He asked.

"Duh. The last time I was on Earth, the Allies declared war on the Soviet Union. They had a _lot_ of guns back then. What, has it been, like, ten years?" Fire said. Dipper raised an eyebrow, but then his jaw dropped.

"Wait, you mean _World War l_?" He asked incredulously.

"Maybe, my memory's vague." She said. "Why? Not that much is different, according to what I saw. But I _was_ in France for most of that time. Did I miss anything important?" She said. Dipper stared at her with unbelieving.

"...Why me?"


	8. Chapter 8

Dipper sat in the library of downtown L.A., scrolling through the computer, wearing a hat and pair of sunglasses that Fire said she had "borrowed". He realized just then that he couldn't control her behavior, so there was no point in it really. All he could do was hope that she got bored with whatever she was doing at the moment soon enough that he wouldn't get in trouble.

As he scourged through the internet, he was met with something very irritating. Five different Echo Creeks. Five different cities, five different locations, all placed randomly throughout five different states in the country. Why did the universe hate him? As he continued looking through the different cities and locations, Fire leaned over his shoulder, in the form of Emily.

"I'm getting no where with this." He whispered to her, silently voicing his angers. She, however, didn't notice. She was too busy staring at the the screen, mesmerized by the images that seemed to move on their own. He could've sworn her eyes grew as she looked onto it.

"What does this button do?" she asked, looking to press the escape button on the keyboard.

"Don't touch that." He said, smacking her hand away as if it were the fly that just wouldn't go away.

"What about this one." She asked.

"Don't press that either." He said.

"Well, what about-"

"No."

"How about-"

"No."

"Can I-"

"No." The interaction seemed to end there, as Dipper continued to do research on each individual Echo Creek. There seemed so normal, nothing to suggest that there was some super-powered person living there. And for some reason, there were no records on a "Marco Diaz" in any of the Echo Creeks. "Maybe it was some kind of code?" He asked himself.

"Nah. It seemed pretty straight forward to me." She said. Dipper rolled his eyes.

"Normally, people aren't that straightforward." He said. Fire was quiet fro a moment, presumably thinking about what to do.

"Have you checked any places that might seem suspicious. Like abandoned buildings or something?" She asked.

"No. They're all pretty well populated, and nothing seems to be out of the ordinary. I'm missing something, I know it. But what?" He asked. There seemed to be a long moment of silence as Dipper contemplated what to do next. He had checked as thoroughly as he could have.

"What if it's not a city?" She asked. Dipper looked at her. "I mean, he didn't say 'the city of Echo Creek.' Maybe it's not a city. Maybe it's a building or a county or something." She asked. Dipper shrugged. Worth a shot, right? He corrected his search to match her suggestion and started doing more research, while she went off to look at the books. It was all he could do to hope that she didn't set fire to the library. He went through the maps, and found that they were even more Echo Creeks counties and buildings than they were cities. But somehow, none of the ones he was looking at contained a guy named Marco Diaz. As he kept looking, he started to wonder if this thing was even real. Maybe it was just some one messing with them, or maybe he was right and it was a trap.

"Wait!" Fire said suddenly, somehow appearing right next to him without him noticing, causing him to jump. "Right there. Echo Creek Academy." She said. Dipper looked at her.

"What about it?" He asked. She waved him off.

"Just click on it." She said. He did as he was directed. It was a high school in Echo Park county and the town of Echo Creek, just a few minutes out of L.A.. And, with a little help from Facebook, he found that there was a student named Marco Diaz who attended the high school. Yep, this place seemed to fit whatever bill was there Dipper frowned. This place was one of the cities on his original list. So why couldn't he find a Marco Diaz when he looked up the city, even though it has him clearly stated as a student of the school.

"Maybe because he doesn't live in the city itself, but just goes to the school." He said to himself.

"Or so it's harder for people to find him." She said.

"Then why would he have a Facebook page." He said.

"What's Facebook?" She asked. He waved her off. Looking at the info for this kid, questions making themselves present.

"This guy's fourteen years old. Why would that red guy want me to see him? He's a kid." Dipper then remembered that he was sixteen, not fourteen. He had to get used to that, he supposed. He couldn't really tell how long he had been under, but the thought that he had slept through two years of life was still a bit scary and saddening. How much had he missed of his family? How much of him did they miss? What about his friends?

"Age doesn't define everything, Dipper. Right now, we're supposed to find a guy named Marco Diaz in a place called Echo Creek. Right now, this guy seems like our best bet." She said. He wasn't so sure. What did he know about this guy, and that figure from the hospital? He thought about it for a second. Maybe this wasn't such a good idea.

"We shouldn't stay in this place for much longer. Those guys from the hospital could still be looking for us." He said, changing the subject. Fire nodded.

"Yeah, maybe...what does that circle button do?" She asked.

"That turns the computer on and off. Now come on, we've got to go." he said, logging out of the computer and walking towards the front exit, dragging a reluctant Fire behind him.

* * *

As they made their way down the street, Dipper nervously looked left and right for any sign of danger.

"Dipper, if you keep looking around like that, someone's bound to know something is up. Just stay calm. And it's not like anyone's going to mess with you. To the rest of the world, Dipper Pines is dead." Fire said.

"Yes, thank you for reminding me of that. Really helpful there? Should we go kick some puppies now?" He asked. Fire groaned.

"What I meant was that no one's going to report you or whatever people do now. No one's going to suspect you unless you give them reason to suspect you. Which is what you're doing right now, acting like you've just killed somebody." She said.

"Need I remind you that people are dead? I think I've gained some reason for being paranoid." She said.

"Just _please_ , no matter how paranoid you are, don't act like it. I don't want to die just because you couldn't keep a straight face." She said.

"That's not really helping my paranoia." He said.

"And besides, you think those people are actively looking for us in the open and in an extremely populated area like this?" She asked.

"...Not really." He said.

"If we just act normal, we'll be fine." She said. Dipper sighed. Maybe he was just being paranoid. He was scared shitless, but if he just acted normal, he would be-

" _Freeze!_ " A voice said. It was muffled, and Dipper turned around to see one of the masked guys holding a machine gun, point blank at Dipper's chest. " _Put your hands where I can see them_ _!_ " He said. Dipper and Fire quickly obeyed, holding their hands up next to their heads. The man held them at gunpoint, staying still as if he was a statue. Dipper couldn't help but eye the machine gun, afraid of what would happen should it go off. Around them, all the civilians and pedestrians ran off, making a large space of area where there were no people. The cars sped off to a distance, where the drivers either drove away completely or stopped and pulled out their cell phones, half of them calling the police and the other half recording the transaction. Dipper and Fire didn't dare move, Dipper mentally scolding himself for not noticing the man, and at Fire for making him unwary.

 _Not looking for us, huh?_ He thought, never taking his eyes off the man.

" _Shut up_." She answered quietly under her breath. Dipper wasn't very startled, but still a little bit. She could hear his thoughts so clearly that she could respond to them. Dipper started to come up with an escape route in his mind. Interesting. In the distance, he could hear sirens, and he had a feeling they weren't from the police.

 _As soon as you get a chance, grab the barrel of the gun and pull it away. I'll knock him down, and then we run._ He thought. She nodded slowly, making it clear that it was only meant for him to see. When the sirens got closer, the man looked away to see if the source of the sound was here yet. There was the opening. Fire launched herself at him, grabbing the gun away. Dipper quickly steeped up and pushed him down. As soon as he was on the ground, Fire hit him in the face with the butt of the gun, knocking him out.

"Let's go." She said, running off with Dipper in close pursuit behind her.

"I guess they aren't afraid to show up in public." He said. Following Fire through a series of twisted alleyways, trying to get away from the people they assumed were chasing them.

"Hurry up! This way!" Fire yelled while Dipper struggled to keep up.

"Fire, hold up! I haven't moved in two years, I can't handle all this exercise!" He said. Fire answered by grabbing his arm and pulling him to match her speed. Dipper was panting as he ran much faster than he could handle. It was at this time he fully began to understand the exact toll the coma had on his body. If he kept this up, he would most likely pass out.

"We just have to find someplace to hide! There's a-" She never got to finish, because a loud crashing sound interrupted her, very clearly behind them. Dipper flinched, expecting something to hit him, and then he turned around.

His eyes widened as he saw what could only be described as an embodiment of all his nightmares combined. It looked like a giant that had been burned to death, it's skin as black as charcoal. It had no eyes, no lips, looking like a skeletal head. It's body was longer than most trees he had in his yard. It was as skinny as most of those same trees, too, adding to the overall horror of the creature. It was holding itself up on the tops of two buildings that stood as the barriers of the alley, the concrete had been destroyed were its hands and feet had planted themselves. It started to move, it's body moving slowly and carefully, it's libs extended, like a spider.

"Run." Fire finally said, getting no argument from Dipper. He sprinted away from the figure as it dropped down and started chasing them on all fours. Dipper looked back, and suddenly wished he hadn't, as the creature was chasing him, low to the ground, and it's limbs moving in a horrifying way. It made a screeching sound while barely opening it's mouth. Dipper turned back around and somehow started to move faster. He thought he was all right, before the creature suddenly appeared in front of them after launching itself over them. It stood on it's hind legs, and Dipper saw that he only reached it's knee in terms of height. Fire pulled him to the left and onto the street as they continued to run away from it, in the middle of busy traffic.

"Can't we just do that flame trick we did back in the forest?" Dipper asked.

"Too many people. We start fighting that thing, it's gonna draw a lot of attention." She said. Dipper looked back and saw the creature catching up, tossing the speeding cars out of his way randomly, into the nearby buildings that surrounded them, which brought traffic to a complete halt.

"I think that attention has already been drawn." Dipper said.

"To us, idiot! Keep running!" She said. Dipper did so, looking around for any means of escape. And then he suddenly had a realization.

"We need a car!" He yelled.

"What?!" Fire asked. "We can't stop!"

"That things gonna catch up to us if we stay on foot. We need a car!" He said. Fire groaned.

"Fine! Here!" She said. Stopping to get on a motorcycle.

"We're completely exposed on this thing!" He said.

"All these cars are stopped. Anything else and we're stuck." She said. Dipper hesitated a moment

"Shit!" He said, getting on the front of the vehicle. "I'm driving!"

"Do you know how to work this thing!" She asked.

"Yeah." Dipper lied. "Like riding a bike." He turned the bike around and pulled the throttle, causing them to launch forward. It took all of his will power not to pull the brakes, and let off only a little bit of pressure on the throttle. He aimed the bike in between the stopped cars, right on the double yellow line, trying to makes sure he didn't hit anything. The cars in the middle honked at him, unaware to the cause of the traffic jam, as he sped past them and broke probably around twenty traffic laws.

"It's not following us!" Fire yelled. Dipper sighed, but kept looking at the road.

"I'm going to get off on the freeway!" He yelled back at her, getting to the back and finally exiting the traffic jam, which seemed to be made up of too many cars for him to count. "L.A. traffic. Geez." He said to himself.

"Dipper, stop!" She yelled. Dipper was surprised at the sudden outburst, and hit the handle brakes on instinct. The sudden stop caused the bike to lurch forward, the back wheel coming off the ground. Dipper panicked and leaned back, trying to get the bike level again. It stopped, thankfully, and the wheel fell to the ground, causing a bounce that hurt Dipper's legs and his...legs. Fire hopped off and ran towards what he saw was a bicyclist shop. She came out whit two helmets, running quickly, and handing him one. "Here."

"What is this for?" He asked, taking the black helmet and putting it on his head.

"Too make sure that you don't bust your head open if we crash." She said. Dipper gave her a blank look.

"Geez thanks for the faith in me." He said. She rolled her eyes and got on. Dipper was about to drive when he heard yelling behind him. Looking back, and old man was speedily walking towards them. "Who's that?"

"The owner of the store where I swiped these." She said.

"You didn't pay?" He asked.

"I don't have money." She said. He sighed.

"Well, I'm just gonna have to talk it out with hi-" He was cut off by a gunshot. He ducked as a bullet hit the telephone pole next to him. Looking back, he saw the owner had pulled out a gun.

"Talk later!" She yelled as she got on, and Dipper hit the throttle, sloppily taking off and speeding away from the store owner. "They're just some helmets, buy some more!" Fire yelled at the guy. Dipper turned around the corner, out of the range of fire from the cranky store owner.

Dipper turned on the freeway, and he had to remind Fire constantly to keep her arms around him so she wouldn't fall off, to which she made some very colorful jokes. Dipper was always nervous that there would be a bump or a turn that he wouldn't be able to do, and Fire had to constantly keep him calm. Eventually, it started to get dark, and Dipper finally recovered from the shock from the attack to ask:

"Fire, you mind telling me what happened back there?" He asked.

"Well, obviously, that guy was off his-"

"No, I mean with that giant from my goddamn nightmares." He said. Fire was quiet for a moment, then sighed.

"That was a wendigo demon." She said.

"A what?" He asked. Fire sighed.

"They're the demons that represent cannibalism." Dipper was getting more confused, and Fire sensed it. "There are many species of demons, and the overall number of this demons are too much too count, but each species of demon are accountable for a form of evil that exist. Wendigo are the demons of cannibalism." Dipper nodded. So, each demon species represented a form of evil.

"...So...what...which one..." He didn't seem able to get the question out.

"Which one am I?" She finished. Dipper wasn't looking at her, but somehow wanted to look away from her, embarrassed. "Succubae are demons of lust and adultery." She said. Dipper's face burned.

"...Oh." He said. He could feel a silent laugh vibrate through Fire and into him.

"Don't start acting all weird, okay? I've seen your stash, it's nothing your not used to." She said. Dipper blushed even harder, choosing to stay quiet.

"Sh-shut up." He stuttered. Fire giggled, and Dipper couldn't help but smile. He reminded himself to keep focus on the road as he continued his conversation with Fire. She went quiet for a moment.

"...I wasn't always a demon." She said. Dipper looked back at her. "I used to be an angel." Dipper was taken aback by this.

"...Like...with wings an a halo?" He asked. Like an angel from heaven? Like the literal heaven? She laughed again.

"Well, I did have wings. But no halo. All I got was a spear." She said. Dipper nodded.

"That sounds cool...am I allowed to say that?" He asked. Fire laughed again. She seemed to be doing a lot of that.

"It's fine, Dipper." She said. "You can't see, but I rolled my eyes."

"Yeah, I expected as much." He said. He was silent for another moment before asking another question. "..how did you get to be a...you know..."

"Demon?" She asked. Dipper nodded, feeling slightly more embarrassed. "...I fell in love."

"How does falling in love make angels into demons?" He asked. Fire suddenly tightened her grip on him. Not by a lot, but just enough for him to notice.

"You'd be surprised at what people will do when they don't understand something." She said. He noticed the weariness in her voice, and he thought about what was hidden in her mind. What was up with her past. All that. Instead, he decided to not push it. She could talk about when she was ready. He didn't want to push anything. "Who I fell in love with...wasn't exactly the ideal lover for an angel. I...don't really want to talk about it now, but...I'll tell you soon enough."

"I'll hold you to that." He said. She tightened her grip again, to the point where it almost hurt, and Dipper was about to ask her to loosen her hold, but he felt her head rest against his back. _Maybe she's about to fall asleep,_ He thought. "I'll find somewhere comfy to spend the night." He said.

"Nah, I'm fine. Let's just get out of here. I'm going to fall asleep, so don't kill us while I'm passed out." She said. Dipper looked back at her for a second, then focused on the road.

"...Is this a bad time to say that I've never driven a motorcycle before."

"Don't make me slap you." She said.


	9. Chapter 9

**Hey, guys. Before you get on me about my haitus, I would like to apologize.**

 **...**

 **That's all.**

 **Continue with your judgment as you please.**

* * *

"No, that's not it either." Dipper said, biting into a gas station egg-sandwich that Fire had "bought." He was out of sight from the register, and it didn't look like this place had any cameras, so he assumed it was okay. Which was good, considering the bald buff guy at the counter looked like he would body slam him in less than a second. Even without Vin Diesel at the counter, he didn't like the notion of stealing.

He stared at the map of California in front of him, trying to map the quickest route to get there. "Google said it was just outside of L.A.."

"Yeah, and he was so trustworthy. That Bing guy was no help at all. What kind of name is that anyways?" Fire said, staring at a T.V. commercial from the 90's that was playing randomly.

"Fire, do yourself a favor and try not get to into that." Dipper said, seeing the child-like wonder that filled her eyes when she was watching the over-dramatized anti-drug ads.

"No way! Why would that guy just smack a perfectly good sandwich on the ground?" She said. Dipper sighed. It was obvious she wasn't listening to him. He decided it was best to keep focusing on this right now. "Maybe if take that back road..."

"Shit! Those cars look awesome! But why are they so small...?" Fire continued to talk to the television. Dipper shook his head, a look of amusement on his face. Fire was always unpredictable, changing from child-like to having more maturity than some adults he knew. Was it possible for someone to be as confusing as her? Her and those...

"Hey, Fire?" He asked, looking at her, noticing that one out of place detail.

"Hmm?" She answered, a sucker stuck in her mouth, her eyes glued to the T.V., never turning to even glance at him. It was strange to see her act so normal...ish. It was kind of refreshing, given everything that's happened. But that wasn't what he was focused on. What he was really focused on was her eyes. They...

"Your eyes are blue." He said. Fire seemed thrown off by this, actually surprised.

"Don't be ridiculous," she said, turning to the window of the gas station, "my eyes are..."

"Blue." Dipper said. He could even see them in the window. They were a bright blue, like an icy fire."How long have they been like that?" He asked. Fire didn't answer. She just kept staring at her reflection, at the unmistakable color of blue in her eyes.

"...but...that...shouldn't be possible...why now?" Fire said, in a whisper so low that Dipper had to struggle to hear her.

"Fire? What are you talking about? Are you okay?" He asked.

"I'm fine. For now." She said, turning to him. "We _really_ need to get to this guy. Did you decide on a route already?" She asked.

"Uh...almost, I'm just not sure between these two-"

"Pick one of them." She interrupted."I don't care which, as long as we get there."

"Fire, are you all right? You-"

"Stop, Dipper." She said, cutting him off with an angry look that just reached her eyes. "Don't get me started."

"All right, just, you're kinda missing another hot wheels com-"

"WHAT?!" She said, turning back to the T.V. "Change of plans, take as long as you need."

Dipper turned back to the map. The moment he just had bothered him. He didn't want to make her upset, but he was still worried about her. What had caused her change in eye color? Why did it freak her out somuch, couldn't she just change it back? She did it before. But that wasn't the reason he was so worried. In that moment, Fire looked...vulnerable. Scared. Something he had never seen her, not like this. Whatever was going on, it was obvious it was a big issue for her. He couldn't bring it up now. Maybe later when the time was right. But for now, he had to focus on finding a stranger.

 _Let's see_ , he thought. If he took the northern route, it would be much faster, but there was some shady places along there, and he really didn't feel like dealing with any more stress suspicion had to offer him. If he took the southern route, it would take a couple of hours, but it would be crowded enough to where he felt safe. Plus, maybe he and Fire could relax a little bit...

Wait. If Fire could read his thoughts, did that mean she could feel his feels? Wait if all this stress he had was just adding onto hers? Then she _definitely_ deserved a break. So, the southern route it was. All he needed was gas. He walked around the corner to the register.

"Hey, dude, we need..." Dipper said, but was surprised to see no one present except for him. "Where's the guy who works here?"

"What?" Fire asked, still probably distracted by the television. Dipper walked to the opposite side of the gas station, looking in between the isles, but the guy was nowhere to be found. It was like he...disappeared.

"Good thing, too." Fire said. "I have no idea how you were planning on paying for that gas. Speaking of which, I should probably put some in this flask in case I get thirsty."

"...Uh-huh. Just don't drink too much of that. According to what I've heard, that can have some pretty...strange side-effects on people." Dipper said, earning a grunt from Fire.

"That's the point, D." She said. "I'm trynna relax for the first time in, like, three hundred years. I can never catch a break anymore. It's fun to be lazy sometimes."

"I think you're lazy all the time." Dipper said under his breath, earning a light smack in the back of the head from Fire.

"I heard that!" She said, without the slightest hint of annoyance in her voice. Dipper couldn't help but laugh.

"Okay, let's find this guy and get out of here." He said. Fire groaned.

"D, I don't think you get it. We're on the run now. If we get caught, we're done. I'm sure this guy'll will understand if we just take, like, ten dollars worth of gas." She said, a little exasperation getting into her voice.

"I'm not stealing the gas, Fire." Dipper said hoping that would be the end of it.

"You weren't opposed to eating that sandwich though, were you?" She asked, a smirk on her face that made it obvious who the winner was.

"..."

"..."

"Shut up, Fire." Dipper said, as he walked into the beer freezer in his search for the cashier. Looking all around the gas station, even in the bathroom, he was no where to be seen. _Okay, now I'm getting paranoid._ Dipper thought. This was a lonely gas station in some side town in the middle of nowhere, with no activity around. Now that this guy had disappeared, Dipper was starting to get really nervous. "Where the heck could he have gone to?"

"Dipper!" Fire yelled from the front of the store. "We have a slight problem!"

"What is it now?!" Dipper asked, walking out of the gigantic freezer and around to the front of the store. "Demons, the masked men, what could possibly-"

Dipper was cut off by an interesting face on the T.V.. His. Serious looking woman sat on an oak desk, with a small picture of his face next to her, smiling. The last picture he remembered taking.

" _This is the picture of a young man called Dipper Pines. Recently thought to be deceased in a gas explosion at a local hospital in Piedmont, it seems this one refuses to stay buried._ " A low-quality video outside of the library Dipper and Fire had been at popped up. It was difficult, but he recognized himself. " _Police have gotten multiple anonymous tips that this seemingly innocent child from Piedmont could be related to a larger terrorist organization, and may have in fact been behind the tragedy that supposedly was the cause of his death-_ "

The T.V. cut off abruptly, turning black. Where the video of him outside the library had been playing, it was replaced by the darkened image of his face, staring back at him. Lost.

"Sorry, I couldn't hear any more of that." Fire said. Dipper didn't answer her, he just kept looking at the T.V., as if that would change what he just heard. The strange thing was, he wasn't worried about what they thought he was, or what the thought he had done. He wasn't worried about the lies told to get to him. He wasn't worried about the monster they were making him out to be. The only thing he could think about...

"Mabel must be devastated." Dipper said. Fire looked at him, pity evident on her face. Dipper suddenly completely understood why he couldn't go back to Mabel. Look at the mess that was made because of him. He would only put her in more danger, hurt her more than she already was. She knew he was alive now. She would probably hate him. Maybe that was better for her. Better to hate him, but be safe.

But was it? Was it better for herto think that her brother was a murder, a terrorist like they said? How did that even get started? What kind of twisted person would do something like this?

 _The kind who would kill innocent people because of you,_ he realized. _The kind that wasn't afraid to make a scene without regard for safety. The kind that would kill Mabel if you gave them reason._

"Dipper, do you need to..." She started, but Dipper couldn't do this. Not now.

"Let's go." He said, turning to the door. He wasn't going to put Mabel in danger. He would find this Marco guy and make sure that he would help him. So that he could save Mabel...

...But he wasn't going to give the world the satisfaction of seeing all of it get to him.

"We're not stealing the gas."

* * *

 **Hi, guys. I'm back. Finally.**

 **I've been real busy, traveling, studying abroad, that kind of stuff. (I didn't tell the poeple who read Speedster. This'll be our little secret.)**

 **I'm sorry for taking so long to update. Six months, I believe. Geez, I have some catching up to do.**

 **So, I will try and update regularly. The longest time frame I'm allowing myself is a week. Putting myself on a dead line here.**

 **Anyways, hope you enjoyed this little breath of fresh air. I didn't make this as progressive as I usually would, I'm just trying to get back into the mood of things.**


	10. Chapter 10

Dipper stepped outside of the gas station, Fire close behind him. He made his way over to the motorcycle that was parked next to the single gas pump that was there.

 _Well, at least it didn't get stolen._ He thought. He sat on the bike, Fire close behind him. The familiarity of Fire's arms around his waist somewhat comforting, and no doubt Fire heard that thought, but right now he could care less. He started the bike and revved forward slowly, pulling out of the gas station and onto one of the two lane roads that led to the highway.

The first thing he noticed was the solitude. After riding around for a few minutes, he couldn't see another car anywhere close, not even in the parking lots of the spaced buildings. It was definitely strange, but Dipper didn't think much of it. Right now, all he was focused on was getting the hell out of here and to this Marco character.

"Hey, D?" Fire asked behind him.

"Hmm?" He asked her. There was a short moment of hesitation on her part. It lasted only a few seconds, but more than enough to be noticeable.

"...Nothing." She said, gripping a little harder. Dipper turned back to her.

"Hey, is something-" He was cut off abruptly by the sound of a sudden explosion.

 _ **BOOM!**_

The bike shook underneath them, and Dipper tried desperately not to fall off the bike. He looked behind him, and his eyes widened as he gazed upon a tornado of fire, at least twenty feet high. Dipper stared back at the sight. The way the fire and smoke twirled into the air against the backdrop of the dark sky was...beautiful. Like a piece of art, brought to life before his very eyes, writhing and pulsing. Dipper couldn't bring himself to look away form such a sight.

"Dipper, look out!" Fire yelled behind him. His head swiveled forward as he was ripped back to reality, and he saw an enormous piece of concrete protruding out from the ground. He tried to swerve, but he wasn't fast enough, and the front tire hit the jagged ground. Dipper was sent flying forwards, Fire right behind him, and the bike being tossed to the right of them. Dipper let his instincts take over as he somehow found the energy to turn in a complete circle in midair turned and wrap his arms around Fire, as his body hit the ground.

He felt the bones in his right arm shift and heard an audible crack, as multiple pieces of metal from the now destroyed bike pierced the skin and muscle on his back. The leg of his pants tore and so did the skin on his right leg as he slid along the concrete, but he was somehow able to keep his head from hitting the pavement. At first, it was as if someone had put a heated blanket on him, it was strangely warm and unexpected. Then the pain started to increase dramatically. The warmth turned into an inferno of torture, and he found himself unable to move. It probably didn't help that he was still clutching Fire in his arms, adding weight unto the injury, but he wasn't able to think correctly. He just continued to follow his instincts, clutching Fire like she was the last thing in the universe. Of course, she probably couldn't be injured, but he felt a need to protect her. He turned his body so that maybe the pain wouldn't be as bad, but the sudden movement just made it worse.

"Dipper!" Fire said, quickly but carefully getting out of his arms. The sudden change of pressure also caused him pain, but it soon grew a little weaker thanks to the freedom of his injury. But that still did not change the fact that it hurt like hell. "Are you all right?"

"Oh, yeah, just a bruise." Dipper lied. The truth was, his arm was probably broken in three places. And his leg was bleeding profoundly.

"You idiot, you can't lie to me, I'm in your head." Fire said, slowly turning him on his back. The pain shot through the entire right side of his body and even into his face somehow. He couldn't help but yell at the immense suffering he was in.

 _So this is how it ends,_ Dipper thought, _go figure._

"Shut up, Dipper, you aren't dying." She said. "I'm sure that I'll be able to fix it in no time, just give me a minute."

"Mmm-hmm." Dipper hummed in agreement, his eyes closed. He didn't expect this to be how his day turned out. His eyes squinted closed and took quick breaths, working through the pain.

"You gotta get up, Dipper. There's no telling if that thing will get any closer." She said. Dipper just nodded, trying to listen but not quite comprehending the entire situation.

"Come on, Dipper, we gotta hurry!" She grabbed his good arm and slowly hoisted him up. He took his time as much as he could, slowly sitting up and working to get onto his left foot. His back screamed in denial and his arm burned from the shock every movement caused him, but he didn't get up. Soon he was on his knees, and working to stand. He made the mistake of using his right leg first. Despite Fire doing half the work, it felt like a million bees had stung him. He grunted in pain, but refused to back down, and in one quick movement stood up.

"That's it, Dipper, there we go." Fire said, her voice reaching him in a soothing tone. Dipper's eyes were still closed. He had somehow lost the energy to open them, though he doubted that he could see through the heavy blanket of pain tears that had developed in his eyes.

" **RRRRAAAAAAAAARRRRGH!** " The guttural roar was so loud that it was physically causing Dipper pain. The ground shook and it seemed to go through the very trees. Dipper wished he could see what was going on, but he could feel the energy slowly draining out of him. He would need Fire to be his eyes.

"What was that?" He asked. He felt Fire gently nudge him forward.

"We need to leave, now." She said. Dipper decided now was not the time to pry and started to walk. He tried to match her pace, but his bad leg was just in too much pain for him to go to fast. Even if he couldn't see it, he could _feel_ how slow they were moving. It was downright ridiculous.

"Is that thing fast?" He asked. He could feel Fire's breath on his cheek,and judging from how fast it was, she was either having a hard time caring him or was _very_ scared.

Hopefully not the latter.

"No, just big. If we can find somewhere to hide, we'll be fine." She said breathlessly.

 _Easier said that done,_ Dipper thought. No matter how slow it was, Dipper doubted that they would make it anywhere before it got to them. And every step just made Dipper worse and worse. slowly, he dragged out the steps, forcing his eyes open just to see the world around him spinning.

Dipper's balance gave out as he fell to the ground, pain rippling through him in unbelievable waves. He coughed, feeling the warmth of his blood make it's way out of his lungs and onto the concrete under him. He heard a sickening crack as he fell back on his inured arm, and he could feel the skin on his back ripping. He didn't have time to scream before he felt reality slipping from his grasp, and everything start to turn black. As he lost consciousness, he heard a few, final words.

"...This is why I hate road trips..."


	11. Chapter 11

Dipper slowly felt himself start to return to consciousness. He felt groggy, a strange taste in his mouth. His arms and legs tingled all over. Though he felt discomfort in his body, he was not in pain. Slowly, Dipper began to activate his senses one by one. He could hear the wind that was blowing softly outside, the chorus of wind chimes accompanying it.

Dipper's eyes flickered open, the first thing visible to him was a wood ceiling. Dipper turned his head to the side, his body still crippled for exhaustion, and saw that the wall was from the floor up half painted white and half covered with a wallpaper patterned with farmhouses. Through the window, he saw farmland that set out for miles. The sun was just peaking shy over the barn across from the house, but the sky was still kind of dark, making him think that morning had just began.

Dipper sat up, his body only slightly against it, and he noticed that none of his body hurt anymore. He pushed off the sure white comforter and looked down at his bare chest. There was bandages wrapped all around his torso and arm. Suddenly a little afraid, he pushed the comforter off a little more. He breathed a sigh of relief when he realized he still had his pants on, although they were cut short to make room for bandages that went around his leg.

Dipper looked around the room he was in. All around him, there were what seemed to be antiques throughout the whole room. Wooden horse figures, Floral patterned lampshades. They were some stuffed animals in there too, but they seemed to be at least fifty years old. The whole room smelled of old wood polish and pancakes. An odd combination no doubt, but not an unwelcome one.

Dipper recalled the past events, and he suddenly felt panic set in. He whipped his head around again, but Fire was not in there. Acting quickly, Dipper threw the comforter off of him and stood on his feet. As he put pressure on his right foot, he could feel that his balance was being thrown off. It didn't hurt, but his foot was uncomfortable enough that he was forced to limp along the room to the door.

He grabbed the brass doorknob and twisted, glad to see it was unlocked. He limped through the narrow hallway, looking around him for any signs of life or activity. Suddenly, a floorboard creaked under his step, and he stopped. He waited a few moments to see if anyone or any _thing_ had heard that. After a while, nothing had shown up. He let out a breath he didn't know he'd been holding, and continued his trek down the hallway.

Soon, he came to a flight of stairs, and down below him he could hear the clanking of dishes and sizzling of what could only be cooking. To top that off, there was an unbelievably delicious aroma coming from below. Despite his watering mouth and growling stomach, Dipper was cautious. He had no idea who or what was down there, and he hadn't found Fire yet. He couldn't afford to take chances.

Starting slowly, he took a single hesitant step on the first stair and waited to see if there was any reaction to it. After a moment, he figured it was safe to take another step. Slowly but surely, he way making his way down the stairs. Soon he was far enough down to look under the ceiling.

Fire was sitting on a table in what appeared to be the dinning room, using her fork to pick at a soggy piece of pancake. She was wearing cut-off jean shorts and a white tank top, her hair tied in a bun. Her face looked like she was contemplating some serious stuff. The first thought that went through his mind was; _You better not have stolen that._

Fire, apparently hearing his thought, turned immediately and beamed a smile at him.

"You're awake." She said, standing up to walk to him. Dipper looked around he living room, which was adjacent to the dining room. If he was counting right, there were thirteen people asleep on various surfaces in the room. Dipper stared for a few more moments, before turning and finishing his descent down the stairs, deciding to ignore the living room.

"Yeah, you could say that." Dipper said. "My head's still a little fuzzy. I'm just glad you're okay."

Fire grabbed him in an bear hug, squeezing him tightly.

"You scared me, you idiot." Fire said Dipper rolled his eyes and hugged her back.

Yeah, yeah." He said. Dipper looked around in confusion. "So, where exactly are we?" He asked.

"Oh, right." Fire said. "This is just a random home I came across."

"What? Really? And these guys are just all okay with us staying here like this?" Dipper asked. Fire looked to the left biting the side of her bottom lip. "...What did you do?"

" _Weeeeelll_..." Fire said. Dipper frowned.

"What...did you do?" Dipper repeated.

"See, the thing is...they don't _actually_ know we're here." Fire said. "I kinda...broke in and hypnotized them." Dipper's jaw dropped.

"You can do that?" Fire nodded. " _Why_ did you do that?"

"Because you were hurt. What, did you expect me to go to a hospital while you're wanted by all the government? I figured out how to use a stove for you."

"What? How?" Dipper said. Fire only shrugged in response, causing Dipper to sigh. "Well, at least you didn't burn the house down...that's a plus."

"Hey, have you no faith in my skills?" Fire asked.

"When it comes to modern appliances, no, I don't." Dipper said bluntly. Fire scoffed, a hand on her chest in mock offense.

"Well, good sir, I am truly offended." Fire said.

"Yeah, yeah, you can be offended once we get out of here." Dipper said. he looked down and put his hands on his hips. "Which we can do after we figure out where we are, and how to get where we're going."

"Hey, you're still recovering. Rest a little, have some pancakes." Fire said. Dipper stared at her with a blank expression

"And where, pray tell, did you get the supplies to make said pancakes?" Dipper asked.

"Stop complaining and just eat your goddamned food."

* * *

Dipper greedily stuffed a large piece of pancake into his mouth, it now dawning on him how hungry he actually was. He still didn't feel okay with all this, but it was better than starving. Taking a gulp of orange juice from the glass cup set on the table, he found himself thinking of home. Mabel, Michelle, John, his mom and dad. It dawned on him that it was very possible he wouldn't get to see them again. The thought was terrifying. His best friend, his twin sister, his crush, his parents. He couldn't imagine what it would be like to never see them again. But he was staring that possibility in the face.

Suddenly, Fire came up from behind him and wrapped her arms tightly around him.

"Don't think like that, Dipper." Fire said. "You'll see them again, all right? We just need to figure this out."

Dipper sighed and reached up, putting one hand on her forearm.

"Thanks, Fire. That means a lot to me." Dipper said, smiling.

"Yeah..." Fire said.

* * *

Dipper stepped outside, breathing in the rural air. Looking around, he saw mountains far against the horizon. The wind blew softly through the wheat crops that grew next to the house, and he could feel it, soft and cool. The sun was higher in the sky, the sunlight heating heating the farm. The first thing he noticed was the quiet that blanketed the area. Even when he was living with Grunkle Stan during that summer, he never experienced a silence so absolute. Not even a cricket was chirping. He leaned against a wooden pole that was painted white.

It was surprisingly peaceful. Content. He felt like he could just stay here and relax. Out here, there was nothing to cloud his mind, nothing to distract him. He started to think about his past, where he was before all this happened. All the time he missed while he was asleep. All the time the people closest to him continued to think he was dead. All the time he missed to be with them. Was this to be his fate?

He could hear Fire walking up from behind. She leaned against the opposite pole next to him. For a while, they just stood there, not saying a word. Dipper appreciated the silence. He felt sometimes silence was a good way to help people bond. Just to be near each other. It wasn't awkward, it was just...there, in a good way. Looking out over the empty plains of grass, constantly shifting in the wind like a green sea. He wondered what kind of animals lived in the depths of this sea.

"...what now?" Fire asked. Dipper sighed, looking up at the sky. Even the clouds were somehow more peaceful out here, going their way slowly.

"We stick to the plan. But...what happened last night made me realize something." Dipper said. "I've spent my entire life researching the supernatural and weird. Yet I wasn't prepared for what that was."

"Neither of us were. If I was still able to access all of my demon powers, I could've saved us." Fire said. Dipper looked at Fire, who was looking at the ground. "Some of my powers are still locked away, but most of them I've lost forever."

"The thing is...do you remember that night? When all this started at the hospital?" Dipper asked.

"Yeah. I was there." Fire said sarcastically, looking at him.

"We...I don't know what it was exactly, but we..." Dipper searched for the right word. "... _merged_."

"Yeah, I remember." She said. "What, you think we can do that again?"

"Well, it worked against the men in black." Dipper said. "Even though it's not exactly subtle, it's definitely helpful." Fire shook her head.

"Dipper, you don't understand." Fire sighed, looking back at the ground.

"What don't I understand?" He asked.

"...When we merge like that, my demon fire appears, but...it's different. I have no idea how to control it, what it can do." Fire looked up at him. "We don't even know what it takes to do that again."

"We can train, learn to control it." He said.

"Why are you so eager to do this? You of all people should be horrified at the idea of trying it without the help of some science mumbo-jumbo." Fire said.

"Because we need it. Neither of us can fight something like that wendigo back in L.A.. And the time'll come when we _need_ to fight, and guns just won't cut it." Fire was silent, looking anywhere but Dipper.

"I don't like this." Fire said. Dipper sighed.

"Look, if it makes you feel better, I'll start experimenting and researching. But I still think we need to do this." Dipper said. "We might not stand a chance otherwise."

For a moment, Fire and Dipper did noting but stare at each other. Dipper kept his face a mask of determination, making sure that she knew he wasn't going to give up on this. Fire just stared back at him, a unconvincing scowl on her face. They kept silent for at least ten seconds. Not very long, but long enough for Dipper's point to get across.

"Fine," Fire said with a sigh, "I'll do it. Just...make sure you don't do anything stupid." Dipper gave her his biggest smile.

"No promises."


	12. Chapter 12

"Okay, so we're doing this?" Fire asked. Dipper stood across from her, in a white t-shirt and jeans. He had no shoes or sock on, feeling the grass on his feet and between his toes.

"Yep." He said. The energy pent up inside of him caused him to shift from foot to foot. It was kind of uncomfortable now that he though about it. Fire frowned.

"You know this is a very bad idea, right?" She asked. Dipper rolled his eyes. Sure, it was a bad idea, but when has that stopped him in the past. "Like, a horrible one. We could both likely, probably, most definitely die."

"Look, I get that. We've already done it twice, so it must be safe enough to try again." Dipper said. Fire crossed her arms with a humph of disapproval. She was dead set on trying to convince Dipper not to try this, but it was virtually pointless. Dipper was dead set on doing this.

"Yeah, but last time, you were falling to your death. And the second time, we were being chased by men with guns and scary masks." She said. Dipper sighed.

"Yeah, I remember-..." Dipper then started to recall that night in full detail. He remembered something was off about that night. Well, with Fire. He saw how Fire looked when they merged the second time. She looked...scared. But that made no sense. Yet, if she wasn't scared, why would she be so hesitant to do this. "Why are you so afraid to do this?"

"What? I'm not scared, I'm being _careful_." Fire said.

"No, I remember how scared you looked when we were being chased. I know it wasn't because of those guys. You were scared to merge." He said, pieces starting to fall into place.

"Don't be ridiculous, Dipper." She said.

"The only other time I saw you that scared was when you realized your eyes had turned blue." He said. "The merges...do something to you, don't they?" Fire didn't answer. Dipper knew he had got something right. "What's going on with merging that makes you so scared?"

Fire didn't answer, and looked away from him. He could feel the tension from her. She was silent for quite a while, deep in thought. He knew that she was debating whether or not to tell him. For some reason, that made hurt him a little. Suddenly she sighed.

"Fine." She said. She dropped her arms and turned back to him. "When we first merged, I felt...I don't know exactly what it was. But...it's like I could _feel_ myself changing. My mind was being...warped."

"Warped?" Dipper repeated, confused. Fire sighed.

"Yes, Dipper. I couldn't pinpoint what exactly changed, I just knew something had. It's like different parts of me are being taken and replaced, but they're so small that I can barely notice they're gone." She sighed, closing her eyes for a second." I've never been through anything like merging before. And this...whatever is happening to me...I just feel like...I'm slipping away. And to be honest, I'm actually terrified."

"...Wow. I never realized what was going on." He said. "So you think the merges are changing you?" Dipper asked. Fire sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose.

"Yes, Dipper, I just got done explaining that." Fire said. "The thing is, I don't know why they change me, what they change. I don't even know if there's a limit to the change." She said. "Hell, I'm not even sure it _is_ the merges that are messing with my head." Dipper closed his eyes and sighed. He couldn't use the merge now, knowing that it was affect Fire like this. What if it ended up changing her more, or worse, hurting her?

"So, what now?" Dipper asked.

"I don't know, Dipper. I'm just going along with what you've been deciding this entire time." She said.

"...Wasn't it your idea to go on this trip in the first place?" Dipper asked.

"Semantics." Fire said.

"That's not what that means." Dipper replied. Fire waved him off.

"In any case, I'm leaving all this up to you." Fire turned towards the large house, pausing only long enough to say: "I'm putting my mind into your hands. For me, don't screw whatever we're doing up." With that she walked back into the house, leaving Dipper alone. Standing in the middle of the yard, honestly quite shocked from the sudden shift of tone. He was filled with worry for Fire. He couldn't understand completely what she was going through, but he knew that it was bad. And here he was, with no idea how to help her. Looking up at the sky, he started to wonder what Mabel was doing right at this moment. He looked to the ground with a sigh. He guessed he couldn't really help anybody.

 _Will I ever see them?_ The though shot through his mind without warning. The notion of not seeing his family or friends again was something that occurred to him quite often, yet now it was really sinking in as a possibility. Never seeing his family, having Fire's fate in his hands. What was becoming of his life?

He turned and walked out farther until he was in the middle of the field. It was strangely liberating, this solitude. The silence that surrounded him was deafening. Out here, nothing distracted him from what he was feeling. Nothing blocked him from thinking about the things he didn't want to. He started to reflect on the sudden turn that his life took. Looking up at the sky, he saw that dark clouds started to roll in. The long grass that surrounded him started to move in the increasing wind, somewhat tickling his feet.

He could feel the storm coming in, rolling slowly but surely on top of him. Maybe he would get hurt, maybe not. But he was just standing here, waiting for the storm to start.

Suddenly he felt angry. Angry at life for forcing him into this position. Angry at himself for leaving his family. Angry at the people who killed the patients at that hospital. Angry at the entire world. He clenched his hands and brought them up to his waist, looking down at his fists. He felt that anger and frustration and grief that had been building up inside of him for weeks bubble up inside, like an active volcano. He muscles were flexing so hard that he started grunt from the effort. It hurt a little since he was still injured and not completely recovered from the crash and coma. He had no idea what was going on with him, but at that moment, he was too lost in his mind to care.

And after a moment, he erupted. He lifted his head to the sky and let out a bloodcurdling scream. He closed his eyes and let all that emotion work its way out of his body through his voice, and his body caught the after affects. He felt every muscle in his body spasm and his energy just explode in every direction.

Although it lasted only a moment, he felt great. It was strange, but he felt like a weight had been lifted off his shoulders. He relaxed and slumped forward, letting his arms and head hang down. He panted, feeling his senses come back to him. If he was being honest, that breakdown felt a little good. He chuckled through his pants. It was kind of funny to him. In what way, he didn't know.

"Dipper?" He heard a voice suddenly ask. He opened his eyes and stood up, looking to his left. Fire stood there with her mouth open, not saying another word.

"What? Never seen a guy scream before?" Dipper said. He chuckled and rubbed the back of his head. "That was a little awkward to be honest. But, you know, it felt weirdly good."

"...Dipper...I don't think merging is changing just me." Fire said. Dipper looked at her confused.

"What do you mean?" He asked. Then he noticed it. A wisp of smoke smoke had crawled up in front of him. "Oh." He followed it to the ground and looked around him. "Oooh." He saw that the grass around him had been burned to a crisp, and directly underneath him there was nothing but black dirt, cracked and smooth. He guessed that it was six feet around him in every direction that was destroyed. "Ooooooh...shit."


	13. Chapter 13

Fire and Dipper sat in the living room of the farm house, sitting only a few feet apart from each other. Fire was on Dipper's left, the couch they shared a near the dining room. It just now occurred to him that none of the people who lived here had come home yet. To be honest, it was actually quite worrying. He wondered what Fire had done with them. But maybe that wasn't her main priority at the moment, seeing as how she was nearly crying at the moment. Her eyes were red and puffy, and he could tell she was trying her hardest to hold back her tears. He was once again confused, although now he was trying to do his best to figure out what was wrong with her. Ever since that outburst he had in the field, she had been acting distant. Although they weren't that far from each other, Dipper felt like she was a world away. She wouldn't even glance at him, much less talk to him. He had tried multiple times to engage her in conversation, yet every time she had shot him down. After thirty minutes of this treatment, it was starting to become unbearable. She had to say something to him, anything.

"What did I do?" Dipper asked. Fire continued to completely ignore him, choosing instead to put her feet up on the couch and rest her right cheek on her knees so that she was facing opposite of him completely. "Fire, we're not going to get anywhere if you don't tell me what's bothering you." Yet even at this, she did not so much as flinch towards his direction. At this point, he would do anything just for her to glance at him. He knew something about earlier was upsetting her, but he didn't know what.

Sighing, he stood up. If he spent anymore time in this environment he was sure he would go insane with guilt he didn't understand. He wanted to comfort her, but he didn't know how to, or even if it would actually help with whatever she was going through. He looked at her for a full three seconds, waiting for her to do something, anything. React to his thoughts, talk to him. Even a simple nod would do right now. But when she did nothing, Dipper decided to just let her work through whatever she was going through by herself. For now, at least.

He stepped into the dinning room and sat down on a wooden chair, resting his arms on the table. He sighed, now finding himself weary. Although his body was now used to movement and being physical, there were still very defined limits on what his body was able to pull through. But the amount of stress that came with trying to figure out what was wrong with Fire was a bit more than he could apparently handle. His worry was taking a huge toll on him. He looked out the window, seeing the peaceful ways of the farm. He smiled to was just so peaceful and serene here. Maybe the night time would be a little unsettling, but the mornings here he thought were absolutely amazing. He wished he could stay in a place like this, no worries or people trying to kill him. No demons chasing him or men with guns shooting at him.

Sighing, he might as well try to get something done here. He needed a map if he was going to figure out a way back. He didn't see any computers here, so using the internet wasn't an option. He just hoped these people had at least an address laying around here. Standing from his chair, he looked around the dining room for anything useful. He saw a pile of unopened mail on the counter, which would most likely have an address. He walked over and picked up the small pile in one hand. Flipping through them, he quickly found something both infuriating and confusing.

"There's only a return address on these." He spoke out loud to himself. "Somewhere in Georgia." He kept flipping through the mail. "Who sends mail to _nowhere_ and gets them somewhere?"

While standing there contemplating what to do next, he heard something coming from outside of the house. It sounded like a truck. His heart rate sky-rocketed as panic started to set in. He tried to look outside the kitchen window, but he couldn't see the driveway from there.

He quickly ran back to the living room and looked out the window. A large red pick up truck had pulled up the long driveway of the house, along with a small white car right behind it. A large man with an equally large and white beard stepped out the driver's side of the pickup, along with a tall blonde lady who came out the passengers side.

"Crap." He said in a whisper, as if the people outside could hear him. He started to think about their position. He and Fire were in a stranger's house, have eaten most of their food, and was a wanted criminal. Yep, they should probably leave right about now. Dipper turned back and ran to Fire, grabbing her wrist and pulling her up.

"Hey!" She yelled at him, to which he ignored. She could yell at him later, that was the last thing on his mind. He ran to the back of the house with Fire close in tow, and out the back porch door. He ran towards the wheat field, quickly jumping into the plants and continuing his trek. He looked back for a second and saw that no one was chasing them, so he slowed down to a jog.

Fire yanked her arm away from him, and turned to the opposite direction so that her back was facing him. She stood there and crossed her arms, not looking at him. Dipper stared at her with his jaw dropped.

"You can not be serious right now." he said. She didn't look at him or turn around. She kept silent and ignored anything he was doing. "You're serious right now."

No answer. Dipper looked to the farm. From here he could see the people entering the house. There were three more figures he could see from here, although he couldn't make out anything specific about them. Still, he didn't want to stick around for when they realized their house was broken into. He turned to Fire with a serious look.

"Okay, you know what? Forget it." Dipper said. "You're angry at me. Or Disappointed, or whatever. Go ahead. I don't care." Fire's head went down a little, her bodily visibly tightening. "But we cannot stay people are bound to call the police any moment now. So I need you to put aside whatever you're feeling right now. Because if you don't, all _this_ will be for nothing."

Fire still did not face him. Dipper could not tell what was going through her head. He didn't know if she was angry at him or something else. He kept looking back at the house, expecting at any moment for those people to come rushing out and the sounds of police sirens to fill the air. To be honest, he had no idea what the response time for police was in areas like this. But he was not going to wait around and give them a better chance of finding them.

But he knew he couldn't leave without Fire. Not only had she saved his life three times now, but he needed her in case another demon attacked. And beyond that, it was like he _couldn't_ leave her, even if he wanted to. Even if he wanted to leave her behind, he knew deep inside that he wouldn't. He didn't know why that was, but he wasn't going to change that now. Sighing in irritation, he kept looking back at the house. They were sitting ducks out here. All those people had to do was look out their window and see him and Fire standing in the middle of their field. He turned back and saw that Fire was still standing there. It was at this time he wished he could hear her thoughts like she could hear his. He was starting to think the end of the deal he got was a little less than fair.

"Fine." Fire said so softly, Dipper almost didn't hear her, even with all the silence around here. Fire tuned, but kept her head down. Dipper looked at her with confusion, because instead of anger on her face, or even disappointment, there were tears in her eyes. Dipper was momentarily frozen, so caught off guard by the fact that she was crying. He stared at her a second, before blinking and clearing his throat. He suddenly regretted going off on her a whole lot. "Where are we going?"

Dipper thought about it for a moment. He realized that not only did they still have no idea where they were, but the only means of transportation they had was destroyed when that thing from last night attacked them. And he did not like the idea of walking through the countryside. Who knew when they would find any sign of civilization. He groaned, rubbing his temple with his left hand. This little trip of theirs was NOT supposed to be taking this long. Looking off to the side, he saw the road that lead to the front of the house, just outside the fields.

"I don't know." He said. "I guess we just follow the road. Eventually we'll get to a gas station, and we can figure it out from there." Dipper let out a loud sigh. "We lost the bike, and I don't see us getting anything else like that any time soon. Which means we might have to walk the entire way to...wherever we end up."

"Okay." Fire said. Her voice was uncharacteristically small, and he could hear it get caught in her throat a little. He looked at her, trying to read what was on her face. He knew she was sad. She was crying. But he had absolutely no idea why. He stepped closer to her, so that there was only about a foot of distance separating them. Dipper raised his hand and put it on her shoulder, as gently as he could. She looked up at him, and now not only did he see sadness in her expression. He also saw guilt.

"Tell me. Please." Dipper said. Fire shut her eyes hard, and tears started to leak through her eyelids. Neither one of them said anything, the only sound present was the quiet rushing of the wind through the wheat fields. Dipper looked back to the house to make sure that the people there were not outside. After about a minute, he was sure they were safe. He turned back to Fire.

"...One of us has to die." She whispered. Dipper blinked, his eyes widening in shock. He stayed silent, listening intently to every word she said. "...I think deep down, I...I was trying to avoid it, but..."

"...But what?" Dipper said. For some reason he had whispered his question. The full brunt of what she had said was finally weighing down on him.

"...I realized what was going on when I saw you summon demon fire on your own." She said. "When I was still in the mindscape, I saw a Joining once."

"A...Joining?" Dipper asked. Fire sighed.

"It's when two demons join to raise their power." She said. "When your a demon, it the repercussions of the Joining doesn't matter."

"Repercussions?" Dipper asked. "What are you talking about?" Fire stayed silent for another moment before pulling in a deep and shaky breath.

"The Joining requires one of the souls to surrender to the other. This would usually entail a battle between the souls in the mindscape. But when one lost, the soul was essentially destroyed and their powers were absorbed into the winner."

"...wait, so..." Dipper started. But for some reason, he couldn't finish his thought.

"So that means that eventually. one of our souls is going to lose." Fire said. "The urge to fight has already started to consume you, Dipper...

...One of us has to die."


	14. Chapter 14

Dipper and Fire walked side by side through the fields in silence, but they made sure to stay at least in sight of the road. They had long since lost sight of the house with the barn. They must have been going this way for a couple of hours, at least, and Dipper's stomach was starting to growl. Not to mention the intense California heat that threatened to make Dipper pass out at any moment.

Dipper glanced over at Fire, who was staring blankly at the ground. He had no idea how to take the news she just gave him, but he knew he needed to be there for her. Looking forward, he still refused to believe it. He didn't want to die, obviously, but he didn't want Fire to, either. Even though they had been together in this situation for roughly two weeks, he had become somewhat dependent on her. At least emotionally. He had no idea howto cope with this, and was _if_ she was right. He sighed, closing his eyes for a second.

 _I shouldn't be this stressed out_ , he thought. First it was being stuck with a succubus, then it was the men with guns, then it was the demons chasing them, then it was being declared U.S. enemy number one, all leading up to this shit. He was in a coma not even half a month ago. Granted he did recover abnormally fast, but that did not change the fact that it sucked tremendously. But still, he would make it through. He had been through Weirdmaggedon, he could make it through this. With Fire.

Looking over at the red-head, he took the time to study her features a bit more closely. How sad she looked right now. Just the fact that she was sad made him sad, but he didn't know how to cheer her up. She wasn't Mabel, who he knew everything about. This was Fire, who he knew next to nothing about. He had no idea what to say or...

Ugh, why did everything have to be so complicated?

"That's it." Dipper said as they walked. "We need to do something relaxing. Being on the run is not good for the nerves."

"I don't think it's supposed to be." Fire said, glancing towards him. "Aren't you the one who's always saying that we need to keep moving." She looked away as quickly as she looked at him, which just bothered him more.

"Not when you're like this." He said, and she turned her head in the opposite direction, like it would stop him from talking. "I'm worried about you. You're so...uncharacteristically sad."

"...I"m sorry, it's just...all this is messing with my head." Fire said. "I just...I'm just so confused. Nothing like this has ever happened before. At least, not to me."

"Yeah, me either." Dippers said. "I mean, I ha Bill inside my head at least twice, but never something like this."

"Well, you are technically sixteen." Fire said. "I'm kinda older than you, but only by, like...one or two thousand years." She finished with a smirk, causing Dipper to chuckle as he stepped over a puddle.

"Compared to me, you're like a great-great-grandma." Dipper said. Fire puffed her cheeks out and looked away.

"Compared to me you're a baby." She said. Dipper was silent at first, then burst out laughing at her new behavior. She looked at him with an annoyed face and hit him in the shoulder with a fist.

"Shut up!" She yelled, trying to keep herself from laughing as well. Dipper held up both hands in surrender.

"Okay, okay, I yield." Dipper said, causing Fire to roll her eyes and smile, even for just a little bit. The two fell into a silence, but there was a certain weight that was gone. He knew everything wasn't okay, he hadn't forgotten that. But for now, all that existed was their friendship. Heh, friendship. He guessed that's what this was now. At least to him. This little conversation just proved beyond a doubt that they could overcome anything that was thrown against them. And Dipper was sure they'd overcome this, too. Dipper gave a content sigh. He put his arms up behind his head, surprised not to feel even a sting of pain, and closed his eyes. Even if it wasn't completely worked through, he knew it wasn't holding them back. He opened his eyes and let a smile too big for his face appear.

"What's with that look?" Fire asked, one eyebrow raised with a smirk on her face. Dipper could only shrug in response.

"I'm just happy, that's all." He said.

"...any reason why?" She asked.

"If you don't know, then probably not." Dipper said. Fire rolled her eyes and crossed her arms over her chest. She was silent for a few moments.

"...We need to find a hotel or something. I need a shower, bad?" She said. Dipper glanced at her questioningly.

"Didn't you shower before we left?" He asked.

"No, surprisingly, it didn't cross my mind." She said. Dipper gave her a playful smile and nudged her side with his right elbow.

"So you _can't_ think of everything? And here I was, about to pledge my allegiance to Fire the-all-knowing." Fire elbowed him back, deciding to ignore him. Dipper went back into serious mode, putting his arm back up. "Well, in any case, we're miles away from any sign of life."

"I can see that, Dipper." Fire monotoned. Dipper shrugged.

"I'm just saying, don't expect that much." He said, closing his eyes. "It'll probably be hours before we even spot a gas station, much less a mall, or-"

"Like that one over there?" Fire asked. Dipper opened his eyes quickly and looked at her. She was lazily pointing in one direction, and Dipper followed her line of sight. About two miles to their left, Dipper could see the top half of a large shopping mall shyly poking over the top of the wheat field. Dipper was silent for a moment.

"...of course." He said. He didn't even question it. Without warning, Fire just started walking over there.

"Wait, you're not even the least bit suspicious about it?" Dipper yelled after her.

"Honestly, I just want to get something to eat." She said. "Trap or no, I'm getting a meal."

* * *

Dipper walked into the mall, looking around cautiously. Surprisingly, there was a highway next to it, so the parking lot, and the building, was bustling with people. Dipper was grateful for the lucky break, but couldn't enjoy it due to his paranoia. He felt like at any moment, a person would recognize them and call the police. He gulped audibly as they walked through the food court, stopping at a random Chinese restaurant (it had China in the name, so Dipper thought it was legit). There was at least three people in front of them. He wanted to argue with Fire about how stupid this was...but he was really hungry, too. He looked around the food court as inconspicuously as possible, watching to see if there was anybody looking their way.

"Stop being so paranoid, Dipper." Fire said. "We'll just get some food, clothes, and be on our way."

"Well, sorry, but after getting chased by men with guns and _two_ demons, I'm just a little on edge." Dipper said quietly. Fire just rolled her eyes, not responding to him. He thought it had something to do with the hunger, but he was glad that for once she didn't have a snarky remark. Looking around, he was suddenly glad. He hadn't seen much people in the last few days that he _wasn't_ running away from. This was a breath of fresh air to him, although he couldn't relax. He sighed, feeling conscious about dirty jeans he wore. He would have to buy new...wait. Something crossed his mind. "Wait...how are we paying for this?"

"...Shit, right. I forgot." She said. She grabbed his left hand and dragged him to a large hallway leading to the bathroom area.

"H-hey, what the hell are you doing?" He stuttered, face red as he began to panic. He was about to pull away when he saw something he had to admit, he wasn't used to. "...Is there a waiting area next to the bathroom?"

There were three separate couches in the middle of the open area between the entrances to three different bathrooms.

"Huh? That's...strange." She said. Dipper looked at her incredulously.

"Wait, you didn't know this was here?" He asked, voice higher than he wanted it to be. "What were you planning to do?"

"Doesn't matter." She answered, making her way to a couch.

"I beg to differ!" He yelled at her. Fire sat down on one of the couches facing Dipper, and grabbed a potted plant that was set on the table stand adjacent to her. Fire looked up at Dipper.

"Come on, sit down." She said.

"No."

"Why not?"

"That probably has all the disease on it. That plant at least has mono."

"Whatever." Fire scoffed. Dipper rolled his eyes.

"You're not touching me until we're sure you're negative."

"Shut up and let me concentrate." She said, closing her eyes. She set the plant on her lap and was quite for a moment. A blue light suddenly appeared from the plant. Dipper blinked, and when he opened his eyes, the plant was gone. In it's place was a large stack of money, four bundles held together by rubber bands.

"...w-...wait, what?!" He yelled. "What the hell did you just do?!"

"I just used a demon spell to replace the plant with something of the exact same mass." Fire said, looking at him innocently. "In this case, a bunch of money."

"How long have you been able to do that?" Dipper asked. Fire looked up at the ceiling, her face scrunched up a little.

"...about now-ish." She answered, standing up, giving him half of the stack. "Put this in your pocket."

"We're gonna look like thieves." Dipper said.

"Not if you just put this in your pocket. Now hurry up!" She said, shoving the money onto his chest, forcing him to grab it. Fire shoved her money into her back pockets, and walked past him and back to the food court.

"...You're trying my patience." He said, starting to follow her out. "You realize how many times we could've used this skill!"

"Oh, _NOW_ you're okay with stealing." She said. Dipper stopped, frozen for a second. Then he blinked and spazzed a little when what she said registered.

"You stole this?!" He yelled-whispered, holding the money a little away from him with extended arms, as if that would make it go away.

"Yeah. It didn't just come from nowhere, you know." She said, as if he was stupid. Which, to him, would've been the _least_ of his worries at the moment.

"Why? Where did you steal it from?" He said, still holding the money away from him.

"We needed the money." Fire said, rolling her wrist in the air as if stirring the sky. "And it's from some small bank in the backwoods of New York...I think, I'm not sure. Just put that stuff away before you get in trouble." Dipper growled, stuffing the money in his back pockets angrily.

"I'm not okay with this." He said. When he received no answer he sighed heavily, his face a perfect mask of annoyance. "I hate you right now."

"No, you don't." She said.

They got back in line, but by now it had increased by an extra two people. Dipper was still not okay with Fire's on-the-spot decision, but was more annoyed with the fact that she had not found this power out earlier in their trip. She could've got them a car, or new clothes, or a GPS! Literally anything to make their trip a little more tolerable. He sighed, he couldn't do anything but wait patiently for the line to go down. He pulled out three twenty dollar bills, and waited to order his meal. Looking at the menu, he silently put together his order in his head within the budget he made for himself. The line was moving pretty fast, he noticed.

"Know what you want?" Fire asked him. Dipper gave her a side glance.

"I can order for myself, thank you." He said, folding his arms. Fire sighed next to him.

"You're seriously still made about it?" She said, probably not wanting to mention the stolen money out loud in a crowded mall surrounded by people. Dipper, irritated, turned to her quickly.

"Don't talk about it like it was weeks ago." He said. Fire rolled her eyes.

"You're almost up, Dick." She said.

"It's Dipper." Fire just stared at him like he had just said something stupid. Dipper turned to see only one more person was in front of him.

As soon as the person in front of him moved, he stepped up to the counter, looking at the menu.

"Ill have two number nines...a number nine large...a number six with-" He was interrupted by a tap on his shoulder. He looked to his side to see Fire looking at him alarmed. "What? I was gonna share...maybe." Fire grabbed his arm and started to pull him away.

"Let's go to a different one." She said. Dipper looked at her confused, then looked back to restaurant that Fire was pulling him away from.

Mabel was at the register.

... _Shit._


	15. Chapter 15

" _Shitshitshitshithshitshitshitshitshitshit-_ "

"Fire!" Dipper said loudly, interrupting her. "Chill."

They sat at one of the colorful tables set in the middle of the food court, Fire for some reason a thousand times more worried than Dipper was. She tapped her foot nervously as she ate her food with anger. They had ordered something at a McDonald's across the area from the Chinese place, Fire getting chicken nuggets and Dipper getting three burgers, five fries, and a chicken sandwich.

"She saw you, Dipper." Fire said, staring at him intently. "She _saw_ you!"

"I look different form before. Maybe she didn't recognize me."

"Bull. She saw you, and now demons'll come after her. Or those guys in black. Or both!" Fire said, shoving a chicken nugget in her mouth angrily. "We gotta stick around, man. Else she's dead meat."

"...So be it." He said, taking a bite out of the burger. "But how exactly are we supposed to deal with, you know...the whole 'hi, it's me. Yeah, your brother, back from the dead. Oh, also, got a demon with me. She'll live in my room, don't worry, it's cool.'"

"I don't think now is the time to be sarcastic, Dipper." She said.

"I'm being serious. I knew eventually that all this would come out, I just...never thought on how I was going to deal with it. I don't suppose you have any ideas?"

"...Do you even know me?" She asked, shoving another chicken nugget in her mouth. She groaned in exasperation. "I'm so hungry, and this is doing _nothing!_ I need some good charcoal or something."

"If you don't like it, don't eat it." Dipper said, stealing a chicken nugget. "I'll buy you some later."

"You really know how to treat a girl." Fire said sarcastically, staring at the amount of food he had with somewhat disdain. "Listen, we have to do something about Mabel. Tell her the truth or...something, I don't know!"

"Don't really have a choice, do we?" Dipper said. He sighed. "How do we know that her just seeing me will put her in danger?"

"We don't. But, no doubt there are demons who've been tracking us, and I'm pretty sure they'll make the connection once they sense her." She said. Dipper nodded, thinking hard about his sister's situation.

"Not to mention those gun guys probably have plenty of resources. No doubt they'll have tapped her phone line or something. And knowing her, she'll call someone to let them know. The second she does-

"-They'll pounce." Fire finished, laying her head down on the table. "What are we going to do?"

"We'll, acting like you are right now isn't helping in keeping her unsuspicious." He said, feeling his sister's stare bore into his back. He sighed and quieted himself for a moment. He thought about their position, what they were up against. "...We've really gotten her into some deep shit, haven't we?"

"You think?" Fire scoffed.

"It's not like we can take her on the run with us." He said, resting his cheek on his palm with his elbow on the table. "We have to figure out some way to keep her safe until we deal with those guys."

"I don't know about that conspiracy theory with bullets," Fire said, sitting up, "but demons are a whole different thing. There are an infinite number of demons, Dipper. Which mean as long as we are alive, and even after, we will have to keep fighting them."

"...Are you serious right now?" Dipper asked. Fire nodded.

"Not only that, but even I don't know how they keep getting through to this dimension. Two demons of that power, that close after one another. There must be a large opening for them to come through like that. Not only do we have close it, but we also have to deal with the ones that came through. Not to mention the tens of other openings around the world. Even if we were to close them all, there's no way we can beat those guys. Not with me in my current state." Dipper groaned in frustration.

"So we're screwed?" Dipper said, shoving a handful of french fries angrily into his mouth. As he chewed forcefully, Fire took this moment to be silent. He looked at the succubus, as she looked to be in deep thought. Dipper continued to eat his food, getting through all his burgers and starting on a chicken sandwich before she finally spoke again.

"...Maybe not." She said. The way she said it was a little too sad for his taste. Dipper raised an eyebrow.

" _What do you mean?_ " He said through a mouth full of food.

"...Okay, one, gross." Fire said, waving him off. He swallowed his food. "Two...do you remember the second time we merged. At the Hospital?"

"How could I forget? I was almost Swiss cheese." He said.

"Every person has the potential to hold demonic energy." She said. "Think of it as like...alcohol."

"...Alcohol?" His voice dripped with doubtfulness.

"Yeah. See, everyone can hold at least some amount of it. Some more than others, some not at all. But, after a certain quantity, you're body will start to reject it violently. It starts to poison you. And too much will kill you."

"...Is this supposed to make me feel better?" I asked. She rolled her eyes.

"Just listen. Everyone has an absolute limit before the demonic energy starts to hurt them. There is no grey area, it's white and black. It either hurts you or it doesn't. The second time we merged, I felt you were at your limit. And when you burned the field before, you were at your limit too."

"What does that-"

"And right now. You're at your limit." She said. Dipper blinked in confusion. He looked at his body, and so no fire on him.

"But I'm not even...whatever I was at the field."

"Exactly. I usually measure the limits of demonic energy in numbers. Makes it easier to assess threats. And right now, you're limit is an absolute zero. At the field, you're limit was around a good 20. And at the hospital...it was more like 100."

"The whole number thing sounds kind of silly." He said, earning a frown from Fire. "...So, my limits are getting weaker?" He was confused on where she was heading with this. She shook her head.

"No. See, I think you're limit is based on what you are at the moment. When I merged with you, you were essentially half demon. So you're limit to hold demonic energy was raised. And when you were at the field, that sudden rush of anger you felt? I felt that too. It seemed strong enough to raise your limit, but not enough to raise it that high."

"So the angrier I get, the more demonic energy I can hold?"

"No. The more _unstable_ you are, the more you can hold. Demonic energy is extremely unstable in nature, so for it to possess a new host, said host needs to be as unstable. If it's emotionally, then...well, what happened at the field. But if a host is physically unstable, then the energy will completely overtake the host. Overtime, you'll learn to control the energy without being in an emotional state, but seeing as you're new at this...you'll have to be _very_ angry or _very_ scared in order to summon it."

"Summon it? That means I got it from somewhere." Dipper said. "Did I get it from you?"

"...Well, yes and no." She said, seeming to grow sadder. "I used to think I lost all my power when we got connected. But, I don't think that's the case."

"What do you mean?"

"That energy you summoned was mine, but I wasn't merged with you. Which means that the power that I lost, you now have. Inside you." Fire said. Dipper was silent for a moment, blinking in shock. He couldn't wrap his head around this, it seemed too much. "I think not only can you summon that energy back up, but you can change your limit as well to accompany it."

"...This is too much." Dipper said, setting his head in his hands. He suddenly had a migraine.

"There's no way to know any of this for certain. Nothing like this has ever happened before, so everything at this point is speculation and guesses. But, if I'm right, then that means a whole lot of other things." Fire waited for him to respond. At least she was considerate enough to wait for him to recover before going on. He sighed shakily, looking at her.

"Go on." He said. She gave a single nod.

"See, my power...it was more than just power. I used to think I was trapped in your head, in the mindscape. However, I started to doubt that when I realized that other people could see me. Especially when I started to act more human than demon. Dipper, a demon's power...it's the closest thing to a soul we have. And a physical body like mine, that's magic-based in nature, can only exist if there's a soul in it. I think in trade for my power...I got your soul."

"...My...soul..." Dipper said. He wasn't really paying attention at this point. He couldn't. It was too much, too much for him to understand. His breath was getting shaky, as he felt panic rise in him. Fire quickly recognized it, and stood up to get to his side, enveloping him in a hug.

"Dipper, Dipper, calm down. It'll be all right." She said. But her words were lost on his ears.

"...My...soul..." He said again, as if just saying those words would help him understand this. He stared blankly at the table, going over what was said in his head. Over. And Over. And Over. And Over.

And he still didn't understand.

"I'm so sorry, Dipper." Fire said, her chin resting on his head. "I'm so sorry. I never wanted this. But, you have to be strong right now. For your sister."

"...Mabel?"

"Yes, Mabel. She needs to be protected, Dipper. You have to be strong right now." Fire said. Dipper nodded, and gulped audibly. He pushed it all down to the deepest part of his mind. The fear, the anger, the unsurity. He would push it down, and ignore it until he couldn't anymore. That was the only thing he could do. "Dipper, look at me."

Fire pulled away, but he didn't move. He was too busy burying himself.

"Dipper, look at me!" Fire said, a little more forcefully than before. He finally turned to her, slowly. Looking up to her, right in the eyes. She was crying. "I never wanted this. I'll give it back to you, I promise. But for right now, you have to be strong. Do you understand."

"...Be strong." He said, mindlessly nodding. Fire smiled sadly at him.

"I'll make this right. I promise. I will do right by you." She said. Dipper breathed in, finally gathering himself. "I'll look for a way to get you back to the way you were. I-"

"Fire." Dipper said, grabbing her hand lightly. She stopped talking, just staring at him. "I'm fine. It's...scary, I'm not going to lie. But...I do feel a little better knowing that it's you."

"Dipper..." She said, although not following up. He managed a smile, trying to make it as bright as he could.

"I trust you. With my life...and my soul." He said. Fire teared up, small droplets of water leaking out of her eyes. She pulled him into a tight hug.

" _Thank you._ " She said. Dipper patted her shoulder lightly as he returned her hug. Not as tight as her, but it was something.

"Okay, okay." He said. "Enough with this mushy stuff, people are watching."

"I'm supposed to say that." Her voice was somewhat muffled in his shirt.

"Yet here you are." He said, attempting to lighten the mood.

He let her hug him for a few more moments, before gently pushing her off. She sat down back in her seat, wiping the tears out of her eyes. Dipper looked at his food, suddenly not that hungry anymore. He could feel the stares of strangers around him at the scene. Hopefully, no one heard what they had said before, or else they would be in big trouble. His smile was gone fairly quickly, a little anxiety that he couldn't get rid of still present.

"Well, Mabel's probably confused as hell right now." He said to no one in particular.

"Yeah. Seeing your dead brother in the middle of a scene like that." Fire said. Dipper looked up at her.

"So what do we do now?" He said. Fire just shrugged.

"I wish I knew." She said, a hint of sadness behind her voice. "Try to survive?"

"...Pretty solid plan." He said. Fire rolled her eyes.

"What did I tell you about sarcasm?" She said. Dipper sighed, leaning back in his seat. He thought about Mabel, standing at the register behind him. Probably confused, sad, scared. She had no idea where he had been for the last few weeks. She thought he was dead, didn't she? That was enough to raise more than enough guilt inside him. He needed to talk to her now. Especially now. It was selfish, but he needed her to help him through this. If she would even forgive him after. "Are you sure?" Fire said, obviously reading his mind again.

"Yeah." He said. Fire looked past him.

"Good, cause she's heading over here right now." She said. Dipper flinched in shock, sitting up. "And she brought someone."

"Wait, _now_ now?" He said in a panic.

"Yes. She's almost here. Just wing it." She said. Now he could hear the quick steps coming up from behind him.

" _What do I even say?_ " He asked. Fire just shrugged, and he frowned at her with all the malice he could muster. _I swear you're going to pay for this._ He thought, knowing full well she could hear him.

His thoughts were interrupted by a hand on his shoulder, chills being sent down his spine. He gulped audibly and froze in his seat, afraid to turn. What would he say? What would he do? What was he supposed to? Who did she bring? She was right there, all he had to do was turn around and face her. But he was too afraid to. He was scared of what she would think. How hurt she would be.

But there wasn't really any way to avoid that now. It was happening, whether he liked it or not. He took in a deep breath, bracing himself for the complete emotional disaster that was sure to come now. He turned around slowly, and looked up at the girls who stood behind him. Both equally shocked, both equally teary-eyed.

"...Dipper?" Mabel asked.

* * *

 **I know the title of this story is "Demon Hunter," and there hasn't really been any...demon hunting. I promise for some merging action in the next chapter.**


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